Reviews: Hundred, Yuuki Yuuna, Upotte!!

Last year, I opened up the blog for commissions: an offer to review anything. I’ve rarely written reviews, so this felt like a good way of motivating me into the practice. Sadly, a lot of frustrating things IRL took me out of my comfort zone for blogging for quite a while. I never want to publish anything I haven’t been able to focus on properly, especially if it’s been commissioned by a fan of the blog, so these pieces are coming out a lot later than intended. 2021 is a new year for UEM! though, and a new year for me. It’s high time we got back to talking about anime here.

With all that said, let’s get to it.

KonoSuba S1: An Unnecessary Review

(this review contains spoilers – you have been warned!)

The ‘stuck in an MMO’ story, on the back of SAO’s commercial success, has been repeated enough to become a genre in itself. Give Studio Deen that story, however, and they turn it on its head. If they truly are ‘saving anime’ with shows like Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, it fits that they’ve revitalised the tropes of fantasy harem anime all over with their second project of the Winter 2016 season.

Charlotte – 13 (Super-Sized Final Loss of Hope)

I was thinking of leaving this review empty to sum up how I felt as the story came to a close.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 12 (Super-Sized Final Review)

When a series is this good, you want it to go on forever. But if we allowed that, our girls wouldn’t be able to graduate. School must end, the wider world awaits, and so we have the ending the School Living Club deserves.

Charlotte – 12

Yuu’s hospitalization gives all the important members of our cast some final moments to catch up with him. It could probably have been meaningful if any of it mattered.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 11

Bye bye, Megu-nee. ;_;

Charlotte – 11

I was right when I said this show had effectively finished its major plotlines before this episode. This week we had a whole new baddie, a whole new struggle, and whole new load of ways to approach this series’ strengths and weaknesses.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 10

It’s a terrible day for rain.

Charlotte – 10

How do you solve a problem like Ayumi? In half an episode, apparently.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 09

Even the swimsuit episode is more than meets the eye.

Charlotte – 09

Did I say Yuu bounced back before? This week he bounced back in time, and I’m sure a lot of people’s interest in this show has bounced back too.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 08

The Club’s dreams may be floating in the air, but the reality of their situation has only just been unearthed.

Charlotte – 08

Yuu, after bouncing back, comes to terms with some important truths, all courtesy of a blind woman who, in typically ironic fashion, sees more of life than he does.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 07

Delicious cooking, an existential crisis, and balloons. This week was as quietly chaotic as Yuki’s mind, and it resounds all the better as a warning that we’ve reached an turning point.

Charlotte – 07

Did I say this show outright collapsed before? This week it went one step further, the best animated example of ‘that escalated quickly’ yet.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 06

Miki’s back-story is wrapped up (at last) with her introduction to the school living club, and something far more unsettling that the undead she’s faced: Yuki’s traumatic disorder.

Charlotte – 06

Did I say the structure of this show was disintegrating? Well, now it’s outright collapsed.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 05

Concluding a two-part flashback, the School Living Club gathers supplies, tries on clothes, and picks up a lonely girl and an over-excitable dog in the process.

Charlotte – 05

A hunt for a power user becomes an extended camping trip, which in turn becomes a great way for Charlotte to get back on track with making its cast engaging.

Gakkou Gurashi! – 04

It was Miki’s turn to take the spotlight this week, as Gakkou Gurashi! continues to make every character’s backstory a heart-stopping and heartbreaking experience.