Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari

Overall Impression: Mononogatari is a battle shounen/romance that follows Hyouma, a young warrior monk (for lack of a better term) with a burning hatred for tsukumogami (spirits of inanimate objects) after watching his older brother and sister get killed by one in front of him. He is taken in by Botan, a girl that lives with several tsukumogami as a family, to let go of his hatred and learn that they aren't just creatures to be destroyed. The premise sounds more interesting than it actually ends up being though, this is a pretty run-of-the-mill battle shounen with an identity crisis and a total inability toanimate thrilling action scenes. It can be safely skipped. + Positives: Hyouma is an actually interesting main protagonist, and a convincing portrayal of someone whose grief has warped into hatred. He and Botan's tsukumogami have a fun rapport. The character designs are pretty solid. Very good OP and ED. The plot has some promise if they can figure out what to do with it in the already-announced second season. Botan and Hyouma's relationship is pleasant and mostly free of aggravating romcom cliches, but hopefully there's a bit more heat to it in the future. - Negatives: Visually atrocious. The backgrounds have a horrible filter over them to make them look like faded photographs and it makes almost every scene look glaringly ugly. Poor compositing and things like characters' feet not lining up with the ground compounds the problem. Action scenes are boarded in the blandest and safest way possible and even then the animation is incapable of rising to the task. One particular action scene where Hyouma has a house thrown at him (you read that correctly) almost made me cry because of how cool it should have been on paper, and how pathetic it looked on the screen instead. The series also seems unsure of what to do with itself. Long stretches are simply boring or forgettable because it fails to identify a clear conflict or villain. While Hyouma is supposedly working his way towards destroying the paper umbrella, the tsukumogami that killed his siblings, you only ever see it in flashbacks, and a large percentage of this season just feels aimless as he screws around with random small time villains that have only a tangential connection at best to the paper umbrella. If it were a monster of the week type of series, that might be okay, but it's clearly plot-driven and it makes you constantly wonder what the point or the significance of anything that you're watching is. Hyouma's transition from seething rage machine to guileless dork is a bit too sudden. He's great as a guileless dork so the change itself is fine, it just happens too fast and leaves a lot of nuance and potentially interesting character building on the cutting room floor.

Well this was the seasonal suprise for me, Spirits is a solid B grade not bad not great. pretty much everything is around average across the bored. the better aspects is the story, this kind of story was done fairly often for a bit but with isekais flooding the stage its been a while so its refreshing. okay animations and sound with decent characters make this a solid watch if your nearing the end of your list. So for the ole 3-4 episode if you think the story is lame or characters boring then drop it, there isnt a conclusion pending the outcome of thesecond season. thats it for the short one now heres the more detailed spoiler free review. First off the animation is looks good compared to shows a few years back but now id say its about as par for the course as you can get but its very consistent so no complaints here sound is meh not good not bad which is pretty normal for the characters its a bit hard to say, the "paranormal" characters are for the most part are just an work around to super powered humans or demons becasue they seem to act just like humans despite them trying to convice the viewer otherwise. th few human characters that we get a decent time with are all good. they start 1 dimensional but as more time is spent with them you do see more dynamic interactions which is the main reason i kept up with the show. now the story youll either like it or find it completley boring. the major issue with the story is that there are 2 man story lines going on and neither one is progressed in any meanigful way other than the hyper vague refrence. most of the first season is just an introduction oif the world and story so that leaves only the last episode to take us a few baby steps towards the actual story Yes is did say season 2 is pending not sure when but hey at least almost every show is now getting a second season with quick turn overs so the waiting game is more of small pause than a 6 year hiatus. So if you do decide to watch it i hope you enjoy for everyone who made it this far thanks for the read and have a good one!

If you are looking for a fluid narrative, where the characters have charisma, an appropriate design, good sound effects and with a great script from start to finish, always being very conclusive in each act? Well this is the perfect anime for you. Secondary characters that appear only once and leave, are already as well done and written with as much affection as the protagonists who develop the plot and make everything go. Each problem and situation is not placed at random, everything serves to make you feel part of the universe and better understand what is really happening. Several times you will have Mindblowsfollowed by situations, where you, not expecting a certain conclusion, get a blast of surprising information in your face, and your willingness to watch is fed more and more. The reason my evaluation is not perfect is the visual production of the work, which does not match the level of the original material. I hope that its sequels improve in this regard, as it is something very important in the eyes of consumers that weighs heavily when it comes to caressing the work. Overall, a solid 8.75/10 from start to finish.

Like a really chilled out version of Jujutsu Kaisen on a lower budget, focused more on a single character's purpose and socially awkward humor. The premise is pretty simple. The main character Hyouma, at a young age witnesses his two older siblings die in battle with an evil spirit. He spends his youth training and sealing spirits (sending spirits back to the afterlife) in order to get revenge on the entity that killed his family. With such a hard nosed focus on this life goal, his grandfather sends him away to experience the good side of his narrow-minded viewpoint of all of them being evil. The showbalances between being a humorous house full of differing personalities and action. The show's main humor comes from the main character growing up isolated and sheltered away from social norms, is clueless to this and brutally honest and overly transparent. He's so steadfast in his goal of revenge, is often oblivious to common courtesies and feelings of those around him. It makes for great entertainment throughout the show, and watching his growth and the way he learns to adapt is a nice journey to follow. It won't necessarily blow you away visually or narratively, but it holds its own ground as a subtly funny and action driven show. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode, and found often at times that side characters were some of the gems of the show as the main two can be bland and a bit too one-note at times. The way Hyouma is clueless about romance is also a key note throughout the show that is enjoyable without falling into raunchy territory that most anime tend to do. There isn't a ton of depth, but sometimes it's nice to have a show where everything is straightforward and not an overly convoluted web of story. Overall I would recommend if a toned down and chill action-spirit hunter comedy interests you.