Category Archives: Final Thoughts

Anime Winter Season 2020: Final Thoughts

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2020 winter anime season

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2020 winter anime season that just came to an end~

22/7
Length: 12 Episodes • Genre: Music

22/7 anime nanobun no nijyuuni
Last year, I watched a Korean horror movie titled White: Melody of Death. It wasn’t great, but I liked how it was different than what you’d normally expect from something featuring idols/pop stars. I mention this because, at this rate, I’m kind of over idol anime. Almost all of them seem really similar, and the whole process feels like it’s just about selling some real-life CDs and merch (who still even uses CDs?!). Anyway, early on in 22/7, “The Wall” was pretty intriguing, and this show seemed different enough to make me hopeful that this wouldn’t be just another idol anime, but while it wasn’t as unique as an idol horror movie, 22/7 still wasn’t your typical idol anime.

The focus here isn’t so much on the music as much as it is on the individual girls themselves. Most of the girls had their own episode (there were eight girls in the group), so we get to see their backstory, learn their motivations, and get to know them much better. It’s a far more effective approach than what you typically see in other idol anime, so I was a lot more emotionally invested in these girls than those of other similar shows. Some of the episodes were better than others, and while some of the drama was kinda predictable, I still enjoyed it more than your typical song and dance. This anime was recommended in the comments, so I was hopeful it would have some yuri, and early on, things were looking promising. Miu and Sakura seemed to have a really close relationship (Miu x Nicole as well), but the show gets away from that, so yuri wasn’t as big as a factor as I was hoping for. Still, I found this a little more enjoyable than something like Love Live!, although I’m not sure that fans of that series or “traditional” idol anime would like this as much as I did.

7/10

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2019 Fall Anime Season: Final Thoughts

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2019 fall anime season

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2019 fall anime season that just came to an end~

Azur Lane
Length: 12 Episodes • Genre: Action, Historical, Military

azur lane anime
We would’ve included our Final Thoughts for this show, but considering how the production problems have led to the final two episodes being delayed till March, it’ll just have to wait. And yeah, you read that right, delayed all the way until March. MARCH. That seems like forever, but at least we should have a few yuri-ish anime to enjoy until then~

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Anime Summer Season 2019: Final Thoughts

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2019 summer anime season

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2019 summer anime season that just came to an end~

Carole & Tuesday • 8/10
Length: 24 Episodes • Genre: Drama, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi

carole & tuesday anime

This may not be a yuri anime, but romantic two-girl friendship is a thing, and Carole & Tuesday is another example of how to do it right. The relationship between our two protagonists never quite threatens to cross over into real romantic territory, yet the bond forged between these two girls was beautiful to watch, and I think that quite a bit of yuri fans will be content with what we got. There was even a (creepy) yuri character, and two insignificant female characters were even planning to get married. Again, not a yuri anime, but it’s enough to warrant a review. 😛

For the most part, this was a simple story of girls chasing their dreams of making music, and I’m not just talking about Carole & Tuesday. Another girl, Angela, also plays a big part in this show, and her path to stardom couldn’t be any more different than our two leads, but let’s get back to the stars of the show. Coming from very different backgrounds, Carole & Tuesday meet by chance and then overcome all sorts of difficulties and challenges in an attempt to make their dreams come true. The show was surprisingly funny and extremely charming, and you can say the same thing about the characters.

Towards the end, the show drifted over towards the dramatic side of things, and you might even call it melodramatic. Personally, I preferred when the show was lighter and more easygoing (like the entire Mars Greatest arc), but I still applaud this show for delving into some serious topics, even if it was kind of clumsy. All in all, this was an extremely watchable and enjoyable show that I think was one of the best anime of the season (this show was actually two cours). Regardless, this was one of my favorite shows of the year thus far~

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Anime Spring Season 2019: Final Thoughts

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2019 spring anime season final thoughts

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2019 spring anime season that just came to an end~

Since Carole & Tuesday is heading into its second cour, it’s not on the list this time, so we’ll have to wait until the summer Final Thoughts post to wax poetically about it. With that out of the way, let’s do this.

Length: 12 Episodes • Genre: Comedy, School, Slice of Life

hitoribocchi

Our review should be coming in the near future, so I don’t want to say too much about this one, other than it was quite a pleasant surprise. Despite her crippling social anxiety and lack of social skills, Bocchi was absolutely adorable, and you couldn’t help but root for her and her quest to befriend the entire class. I think it would’ve been a little too convenient if she actually did that, so I’m glad that she was happy with the handful of friends that she did make, and those friends were pretty good characters, too.

The comedy mostly focused on the eccentricities of these girls, but they had the charisma to pull it off and help make this a pretty funny show. As you might be able to tell from my avatar (Tomoko~), I have a special place in my heart for characters like Bocchi, so even though she’d never believe it, she was really charismatic and it was surprisingly enjoyable to watch her inch closer to the person that she wants to be. There wasn’t a lot of yuri subtext, though, that’s okay, because even without it, this was an enjoyable experience, and I hope we somehow get a second season~

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Anime Winter Season 2019: Final Thoughts

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2019 winter anime season final thoughts

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2019 winter anime season that just came to an end~

Endro~! • 7/10
Length: 12 Episodes • Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Slice of Life

endro~! anime
Ever since we heard of Namori’s involvement with Endro~!, yuri fans were hoping we’d get a little something something from this show, and now that it’s finished, I can confidently say that it does indeed have a little bit of subtext. Not a ton, but it’s probably somewhere in the 3 range in our patented YuriReviews rating system. It’s definitely less than that other anime that got some help from Namori, Release the Spyce, but it’s better than nothing. 😛

There aren’t enough cute girls doing cute things anime that have a fantasy setting, so this is a nice, little treat we have on our hands. I would have liked the show to play up the fantasy a little more though, because it did it in the goofiest of ways. Quests are ridiculous, tropes are numerous, and this ended up being quite a bit of fun, so I wanted more of that type of stuff. It’s nothing exceptional, yet I think fans of the genre will still enjoy Endro~!‘s brand of humor, and I also think they’ll take a liking to these characters. Yusha, Seiran, Mei, and Fai ended up being quite charming, even though they’re definitely fitting very snugly into established character types. Despite her showing a little bit of interest in Yusha, Rona was definitely my least favorite character, and I honestly, I’m glad she didn’t play a bigger role. While I’m at it, Mao was someone I wanted to see more of, since she’s so cute and funny (and she kind of reminds me of Satania from Gabriel DropOut). Anyway, they’re all very cute (Mao, Rona, and Chibi included), and together, they form a pretty solid cast of characters.

Overall, I think Endro~! was a slight upgrade over Release the Spyce (not a very impressive feat, I know), and fans of cute girls doing cute things stand a good chance of being entertained by what this anime has to offer. It’s super cute and colorful, and even though it doesn’t have as much subtext as fans would prefer, it’s still an entertaining little show that I wouldn’t mind seeing get a second season.

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Anime Fall Season 2018: Final Thoughts

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anime fall season 2018 final thoughts

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the 2018 fall anime season that just came to an end~

Bloom Into You • 9.5/10
Length: 13 Episodes • Genre: School, Yuri

bloom into you
Now, as the last of what I like to call the Big Three (namely Citrus, Asagao to Kase-san., and Bloom Into You) has come to an end, I first just want to state how very satisfied I am with what 2018 offered to us yuri fans. It’s quite hard to tell which of the Big Three was best, seeing that they all depicted the yuri in very different ways, but what I can say for sure is that the community made it very vocal that we liked all three.

Now Bloom Into You—as the last to come to an end—has a very special place in my heart for not only bringing the content of its manga onto the big screen, but also for delivering so much more. It’s hard to put into words what this adaptation did to me and probably the majority of the community. In short, it was some top-notch adaptation that I simply couldn’t be happier with.

Well, my review will soon follow, of course, but please be a little patient. During this time of the year, we have quite a lot of posts scheduled.

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Anime Summer Season 2018: Final Thoughts

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anime summer season 2018 final thoughts

It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our Final Thoughts of the summer anime season that just came to an end~

Happy Sugar Life • 6/10
Length: 12 Episodes • Genre: Drama, Horror

happy sugar life anime
Trust me on this one, don’t go into this only for the yuri. If an age gap of about ten years—with the younger one not even being old enough to understand how to use a vacuum cleaner—doesn’t already scare you away, maybe the yandere part will. The “yuri” aside, the horror, or rather, psychological aspects of this show made it hard for me to watch more than one episode at a time.

Happy Sugar Life constantly hits you with more twisted people, all with their own understanding of what makes life bearable, and all in one way or another seemingly just tools to make Satou and so many other people they encounter suffer beyond what they can take. Now, add Satou to this equation, with her own twisted personality, and you’re constantly hit with both drama and trauma, to the point that you get paranoid that every new character that gets introduced must be crazy in some way. And you wouldn’t even be wrong about that!

So, yeah, if you’re into these dark and twisted psychological kind of shows, this is surely something you will enjoy. However, personally, as much as I can enjoy shows like this, Happy Sugar Life might have crossed a certain line a few times too much, and at some point, some characters rather came off as laughable and ridiculous instead of scary and dangerous. Also, the yuri part was just not my cup of tea.

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