Heybot! 1–50 [END]
In the beginning, I wrote this off as
Gintama meets
WarioWare, then its own charm shone through. Being sincerely stupid yet completely coherent by the end was impressive. Even if things were made up along the way, its dedication let nothing feel wasted within a sea of waste.
Heybot! lives out the suitably childish desire of goofing off by using whatever associations come to mind while also indulging in repetitive one-shot gags. The fun felt genuine, so it's OK.
My favorite episodes were 16 and 44, the ones where Nejiru and Heybot were separated to only realize how important they were to each other. Then, episode 49's ending was the culmination of those emotions. The end of episode 46 was also notable for setting up the final arc in what was the only time that the show convincingly toyed with expectations by almost corrupting the protagonist. That said, this plateaued early; I had enough by the end of the first half.
For all its final talk about being too safe and well-rounded... it kept to its own bubble obediently, even obsessively. It's at least a funny bubble.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 1–12 [END]
Despite the restrictive premise, this is a good show. I don't like the content though. The humor isn't even what's above average; it's the production. I'd also like to strangle the narrator.
Shut up! Less narration and Shinomiya-Shirogane skits was a welcome change halfway through. Still, something in my gut tells me what's between them isn't love. Being too good at avoiding direct intimacy is more tragic than funny.
Kaguya-sama is what I regard as a "perfect" romantic comedy—way too methodical to pass off as a drama at the same time.* Basically, its credit runs dry fast from acting overly smart about the same stupid thing over and over.
I liked the acting, the pacing, and the style. While repetitive, each skit is delivered with different visuals and under different circumstances. Those jokes though... I couldn't care less for. The Climax of episode 8 was my favorite moment. Episode 9 was good too, though, I can't remember why anymore. (I forgot to post about this.)
Now I'm wondering if most people care for
Kaguya-sama or just care about Chika. Because from an outsider's perspective, it's the Chika show, when it's not. It'd be nice if some people were more upfront about their fawning instead of lauding the middling humor strained through a style almost as vain as the main pair themselves.
—————
* I'm thinking of things like the
Monogatari series and
Spice and Wolf when I say this.