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Jun 17, 2025
Brave Witches deserved better
So a little context and background history, I first watched this when it was released in 2016, and the studio deserved all the criticism that was thrown their way. They didn't have enough money, enough time, or enough staff working on it.
They were riding high off the success from Strike Witches, and wanted a spin-off, but then decided that they wouldn't put in the same kind of resources towards making that series. For the studio this was a cash-grab.
But for the team behind it, this was a labour of love, and they did the best with what they had, but it was
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rushed and it showed as episodes were released with CGI that was so bad that it looked like they hadn't even finished working on it, this meant that on its release all anyone talked about was how bad the animation was and how it was a significant downgrade from Strike Witches in that regard, and that did have the result of badly affecting its MAL score too.
They improved the CGI significantly (its still bad in places, but believe it or not, it was a lot worse) by the time of the JP Blu-Ray release, but the damage was already done.
Brave Witches deserved better.
Aside from the mishandling of the studio and the bad CGI, Brave Witches is in my opinion the best 'Strike Witches' series
That is a bold claim to make, but one I shall now attempt to justify.
As a series Brave Witches is 'tighter' and more focused, almost every episode reminds us what a perilous state the 502 are in, they are a frontline base, supplies are low and always at risk, there is far less filler, less 'goofing off' or episodes that are there just for fanservice.
Which leads me to the next point, there is far less fanservice, there is still some fanservice as you might expect, but it is in the background, with Strike Witches it is front and centre to the point that they even centre episodes around it, rather than centring it around the main story. This actually makes it far easier to recommend to others without having to worry about the fanservice.
And then we get to the biggest divergence, our MC, Hikari, she has to fight for her place in the 502nd, it's not just given to her, she's the opposite if Miyafuji, who is scouted, had zero prior training, and constantly pressed to join the 501st, has a huge magic capacity, and gets given everything on a plate.
Hikari has to earn everything, she has had training, she has to fight to earn the right to join the 502nd, to get the respect of the others, she has a very weak magic capacity, and she has to learn how to best use it, she has to learn how to get stronger, and she is also told that she can't be her Sister, she can only be herself, so she has to find what it is she can do, and her own way of fighting.
I prefer Hikari as a character to Miyafuji (who is a bit of a mary sue) and it makes for a better story with her journey, as it is far more rewarding, we get to share in her progress and feel that she has then earned her place and the eventual respect of others. You are far more likely to be rooting for her to succeed.
So while it is not perfect, for me this is the strongest entry in the mecha musume genre.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 24, 2025
Gekai Elise is a bad anime masquerading as a good anime
It wants you to think its smart and intelligent, but it becomes clear that this is only surface level, and if you look closely holes begin to show.
I watched this on release and I enjoyed it, but there was a voice in the back of my head that had issues with it, and I chose to ignore it at the time. On re-watching this however those issues stepped up front and centre and got in the way of my enjoyment.
This is a series where you have to not just switch off your brain to enjoy
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it, but totally remove your brain and put it on a shelf, as this anime will do everything it can to shatter your suspension of disbelief, and as soon as your brain switches back on, you will find all kinds of flaws with this series.
It's main premise, it's main 'twist' on the genre it does badly, everything else is done well, so in the end it's neither one thing or another, its not outright bad, its not outright good, so what is it? it just sits in the middle as confused mess of a series.
So, to quickly cover the basics
This is a Villainess redemption, isekai, time-warp story, and on the fundamentals it ticks the boxes, she was a villainess, she regrets her past, she is on her redemption arc, while seeking to avoid the past tragedies that beset her previous life, as she now relives her life on this new path.
It is a romance in so far as she had a one-sided infatuation with the First Prince (Linden) and wanted to marry him in her first life - leading to her doom, and now she wants to avoid that, and seeks to cast aside the engagement and her feelings for him, which now leads to Linden becoming interested in her instead. This is probably the one thing the writing gets right, we want what we can't have, and we tend not to appreciate what we do have until its gone.
Lets just not think too deeply about the parts that involve hidden identities, clear flirting, and possible ramifications and implications of such things, because that might involve the writing to develop some actual depth, and we can't have that.
It is a period medical drama, insofar that she diagnoses medical conditions and carries out modern surgical procedures, and this is where everything starts to fall apart.
1, The setting is confused, I could get into the weeds here, but it is clear that this series doesn't know what era it wants to be, does it want to be a fantasy based on the 1700's, the early 1800's the late 1800's, or the early 1900's the answer is 'yes' It doesn't help that the art direction is equally confused about what period it is set in, for example, in one scene Elise is using a fountain pen from early 1900's and in another she's using a Quill and Nib, we see candles being used to illuminate rooms, but also gas lamps, and even electric desk lamps...
How this then relates to the medical side of things is that the medical understanding of the doctors is late 1700's early 1800's, most of the medical equipment employed is from mid 1800's, the style of operating theatre is early 1900's and surgical prep and techniques being from mid 1900's
The way they carry out surgical operations feels more like its from a few decades ago than it does a few centuries ago.
It is because surgeons understanding improved, that the equipment and techniques then improved
Why is this an issue? Why am I making a big deal about this?
This is a lack of understanding of the subject matter by everyone involved. "Don't think about it" it says, as it repeatedly takes a hammer to your suspension of disbelief.
It also cheapens the story, if it set in a clear defined era, with the limitations of that with the limitations of that era, the limitations of the understanding, the equipment available, it would change the story for the better as she would have to fight to improve every single element of medical care and treatment. It would give conflict to the story, and be far more believable that someone with modern medical knowledge would face pushback and rejection on those ideas.
2, Elise is a specialist in... everything? Aside from GP's, consultants and surgeons specialise in on specific area of expertise, you wouldn't go to an eye surgeon to fix a broken leg, and yet here is Elise, she can do it all, with her knowledge of modern medicine she can arrive at a perfect diagnosis and treatment for anything every time... just don't think too deeply about it.
3, Elise's perfect memory recall, She lives a whole other life between restarting her life as Elise from that 'mid point' it would have been almost 30 years since her memory of those past events, and yet we're expected to believe that she can remember a tiny detail such as the smell of someone's breath? And she uses that to aid her diagnosis?
There are plenty of other issues with this series, too many to get into, some involve spoilers so I won't touch on them, needless to say, this is a mess of bad writing.
Honestly, it should have been obvious that this was going to be bad and that no one knew anything about they were putting into this from the very opening.
Just the opening 5 minutes we have what kickstarts the story, a plane crash, one of the engines explodes, and the plane just ends up falling from the sky... except that wouldn't have happened, not in reality, not in normal circumstances, these types of incidents have actually happened in reality and the aircraft have safely landed with just the one engine, pilots train to deal with engine failures and to land under such conditions. This would not have resulted in a crash.
Even if it had crashed, the wreckage would not have looked like that, and I kept asking myself "where are the cabin crew"
It's a fun watch, and it dared to be different, the concept isn't a bad one, it's the execution that lets it down
This had the potential to be a good series, it just falls apart due to bad writing and bad art direction.
As said above, if it had a clear defined era, and if they gave the era clear defined medical limitations which she would come up against, it would make for a better story.
As a Villainess do-over anime, it works, and it is enjoyable
As a Romance, it does work, it's 'fine' and relatively enjoyable
As a period medical drama, it just doesn't work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 7, 2025
This is pure isekai trash but not in a good way, it has enough entertainment value to keep you watching, but that doesn't stop it from being bad, it had the potential to be a good trash isekai, and yet it falls short, the writing lets this down, there are issues with the plot and the pace of this thing.
Watch it if you like trash Isekai, but be warned, you mileage on this may vary
A quick TLDR summary, Light as a character is bad, Lena is good, the final act is good, the rest of it is mediocre to bad.
This series confused me, for one
...
thing it didn't go how I expected it to
the MC, Light, wants to be an adventurer, and ends up with the skill Fruit Master, which he assumes is useless and just applies to growing crops, but due to an incident he accidentally consumes a second Skill Fruit and awakens a second skill, at that point he learns that Fruit Master allows him to eat as many Skill Fruits as he wants without the side-effect of death.
At this point you would expect him to consume a large amount of skill fruits to gain a large number of different skills to become the OP MC that he is destined to become. That is what I expected, when I read the synopsis, that I what I thought would happen.
But no... he's so happy with his new skill, he seems to ignore the potential of his other skill and instead focuses on becoming an adventurer... Instead the only time he does consume additional skill fruits is when he encounters an insurmountable wall, which he needs to power up to a new form to surpass like you would see in most Shounen battle series
It's easy to see these battles involving Light becoming formulaic should there be any further seasons in the future
This just feels like bad writing, forcing a situation that doesn't need to happen just to try and make the fights more 'dramatic'
I understand why it was done that way, but I don't like it.
By crafting Light's skill as it is, everyone's instinct would be eat as many skill fruits as possible and get as many OP skills as possible, but the author couldn't possible allow for Light to be so OP right from the start and be able to defeat any obstacle in his path, that is why we have this ham fisted solution put in place. It's a problem of their own making with a dumb solution.
A better solution would have been to allow Light to eat a bunch of Skill Fruits at the start, he still would have needed to train with those skills, but also make it that he needs to find the right skill to win specific battles, which would then make Ayla more useful as she would then work out what skill he should use and how he should use it.
So the writing is bad, but no, its really bad... with the very first couple of episodes we get this plotline thrust upon us, you think its going somewhere and... then its resolved, with the second arc you would expect there would be more fallout with the conclusion, but there just isn't, yes it leads into the last arc, and by this time we get an improvement in the writing (somewhat) but getting to that point is not rewarding enough. It's not just that we're cramming story arcs into just two episodes, but the writing is so poor that even if it was given more time I doubt it could turn things around, which is evident in the third arc.
Just before we get to the midpoint Lena and Light part ways, Lena wants to investigate something elsewhere, and Light needs to visit a blacksmith to get a new sword.
Light's arc is given three episodes, in the end it felt rather dragged out in places, probably because the arc is so uninteresting and fails to engage, and the characters (led by Light) just don't really have enough going for them, so the whole arc just falls flat, its boring, even the fight scenes are boring.
It was the final act that I came to realise, Lena was the one carrying much of this. The last act of the series is the best act in it by far, the characters are the most interesting, the story (it actually has a story) is good and it fits into the larger plot, it just works, if this act alone was the entire series, then it would have a positive score, this was good, it was competent, it's almost as if, if the character Light didn't exist and the author didn't have to solve a problem of their own creation, this series had a potential to be good.
I want more of those characters, I don't care about Light, just give me more of this.
So on the whole this was disappointing, but it does have some potential, as a bad trash isekai, it had some entertainment value.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 6, 2025
If you like Isekai, or rather if you like trash Isekai (which lets face it is most isekai these days) then you will most likely like this.
If you don't like Isekai, or you want something with a great plot, great characters, a serious drama driven anime, then this is not for you, because this is trash isekai through and through.
This series knows what it is, it doesn't take itself seriously, it just wants to have fun
This series doesn't seek to do anything new, but that doesn't mean it's an Isekai paint-by-numbers, what it does it does well, it uses standard tropes, but its not copying
...
other works wholesale, it does its own thing without seeking to reinvent the wheel
The pacing of the series is quite quick but it still works and flows well, the plot is there in the background to a degree that it doesn't get in the way of the series just having fun, instead it quietly ticks along to give you a little something extra and give you the sense that events are moving towards some inevitable end point.
MC is accidentally summoned to the world, he's made OP by the goddess to 'make up for it' but also because she has her own hidden reasons, MC rejects the idea of a combat job but intends to pursue crafting and alchemy so he can have a peaceful slow life... and now the stage is set for general isekai trash fun.
MC finds himself in a wood near a village (yes that trope) and saves a villager from harm (yes that trope) he's quickly welcomed into the village and soon learns all he needs, if you think his interactions here are strange, it does get answered later. We also have our first companion join, Maple.
Once we move to the city and are out of the starter area which is the midpoint of episode 2, we start to expand the cast of characters and our companion roster as the MC hires slaves, the system of which seems based on that of Ancient Greece, where they are more like servants than the modern view of slaves. We also get the usual isekai hijinks you would expect from a series of this type, making items from his old world to improve his daily life (I wish there was more of this but it is what it is) going on quests and adventures, and causing a certain level of chaos with what he does.
I'll get into the weeds on some points as there are some things that some people seem to have missed.
The series shows you at the start how skills are learned and progressed, which is a very simple system any gamer would be used to, you level up the skill by using it. It focuses on the MC learning the basics of the world, how to craft and produce materials, and he spends time levelling up, after that it is hardly touched on again mostly because showing you him constantly progressing his skills would be repetitive and boring and take you away from the heart of things, but there are enough scattered breadcrumbs to show he's still learning.
As for the toilets... Yes there is a big focus on toilets, Japan does have a toilet obsession after all, but if you were isekaied into another world and you had some of these abilities, you would quickly make yourself a proper toilet rather than what is essentially a cut-out hole in a plank over a hole in an outhouse leading to your cesspit...
The most realistic isekai's out there are those where the MC seeks to improve their living conditions by recreating 'home comforts' as well as recreating their home cooking and yearning for certain foodstuffs, getting homesick is one of the most grounded things that you can include in an isekai.
Is this the best series out there? No, it's not even trying to be the best. Nor is this the worst series out there.
This is just good trash fun, something you can unwind to and not think too deeply about.
it's entertaining, and that's all its trying to be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 3, 2025
I liked Season 1, I wouldn't watch Season 2 if I didn't, I wanted more of the same and to some extent I got it, but it wasn't exactly the same.
First as everyone else points out, there is a drop in the animation quality, second, Luna gets more focus in the series (I didn't mind this) however almost all of the old cast from Season 1 have been left behind besides Luna. I feel the series also mocked me as we got Yukikaze best 'girl' back for all of 5 seconds and then was quickly ditched.
For me the biggest issue is the absolutely terrible pacing,
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what was the point of wasting time recapping the past events in the first episode when it then blasts its way through everything else, jumping from place to place, as it rushes to the end
Honestly I don't expect brilliance from this series, I watch it for the ridiculous over the top nature it has, the MC's sass, and the dynamics that exists between him and the other supporting characters,
Season 1 had so much, Season 2 in comparison is just lacking, it's still enjoyable, but it's definitely fallen in quality and has way more issues now.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 3, 2025
This is Isekai paint by numbers, 8th son meets 7th prince, meets Tensura, stick them in a blender and this is what you get
There is nothing new or unique here, there is nothing special about this, it is just the most average isekai slop going
Now I love Isekai trash, and as isekai trash this has some merit as it is enjoyable to watch, but that doesn't mean I won't hammer it for its flaws.
To be clear none of the following is spoilers as its all in the PVs and the Image for the anime
So to copy 8th son, we have the youngest child of a
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Noble family in decline which is impoverished (or in this case, about to be) and only the eldest stands to inherit, meaning our isekai protag will have nothing and needs to find a way to make a living, chooses to turn to magic, and to adventuring, this changes the MC's fortunes (literally) gaining wealth, prestige and eventually land to develop, oh and also he's on good terms with most of his brothers except his eldest who resents him.
To copy Tensura, MC encounters a dragon, who he befriends / absorbs / makes a pact with, MC encounters monsters who serve MC and get massive power-ups and change forms after MC names them, MC builds a town / nation
To copy 7th prince, MC is obsessed with magic to the point MC often ignores everything else, MC is obsessed with how magic works and invents new spells, MC creates new magic weapons because he can, MC becomes the most powerful mage
Yeah that is how bad it is with the copy paste story, when I said Isekai pant by numbers I wasn't joking.
Does an anime need to be 100% original? No, but it either needs a good hook, or a good twist / gimmick and it needs to be well written and do what it does well, this does none of that, there is no hook, there is no twist / gimmick, and the writing lacks effort.
The pacing is bad, it is all over the place, it forgets characters, forgets plot points, forgets what it is up to, this is some of the worst writing I've seen since SAO, but without any of the potential that had, and fortunately no NTR in sight.
The characters are forgettable, so much so even the MC seems to forget about them
Things I liked
The nation / city building aspects are fine, just overlook some plot holes and it's not terrible
The exploration of magic is pretty good
It is mindless fun, its enjoyable in its flawed way
The animation is standard, the OST is standard, there was nothing terrible in the animation, the character designs are again, standard, there is nothing special here
The reality is, there are much better anime that do all of this to a much better degree
As an anime, I can't in good conscience recommend this, but as a mindless 'isekai trash' anime, it's alright, it passes the time, its a bit of fun, there are definitely worse out there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 3, 2025
Overall I like this series, but its not for everyone
Take the gimmick of Campfire Cooking's 'online shopper' combine it with Saving 80,000 Gold's premise of selling those goods in an isekai world, and combine it with the slow life elements of Farming Life, and this is what you get - kind of.
Personally I prefer this to Campfire Cooking, for one thing it's a slightly more believable approach, which is something Saving 80,000 gold got right, if you have access to such products you sell them for a considerable profit to fund the goal of a slow life.
That is the premise of this series and where
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it is at is strongest Our MC dies of overwork, is isekaied, finds he has the online shopper skill and item box, and decides to use both to fund his slow life.
So lets get into the issues
The 'rules' to the various mechanics seem to be made up as the writer goes along, there is a 'size limit' on the item box, and he said it was only small in what it could contain... yet it's later said to be large, as he seems to store absolutely everything in there and there is a vast amount of items in it, and I'm sure he's gone past the 'size limit' for individual items.
Then there are the restrictions on what he can and can't buy using his online shopper, this is just beyond incredulity, this is just bad writing, he can buy certain items which you certainly wouldn't expect to buy from such an online shopping place, because the story demands it, yet he can't buy other things because the story demands it and it would just make things too easy, but lets allow him to buy all that other stuff because that doesn't make his life too easy? It's nonsensical
Slow Life - If you are going to do a 'Slow Life' then commit to it, too many series fail on this point, it doesn't have to be 100% slow life, but if you are going to add other elements you have to get the balance right otherwise it is no longer a 'slow life' as someone who loves the 'Slow Life' concept this alone has caused me to drop my score down further from what it was
Talking of committing to a concept, if the MC is going to jump in everyones bed, at least be consistent with it, we have person A and person B, both are his type, yet he'll constantly resist the advances of person A and instantly jump in bed with person B, why? Because... I don't mind harems, I don't mind that all these women are throwing themselves at him, we're told the reason fairly early on, he is amassing wealth, he has access to luxury items that they can only dream of, he has power, and it will only be a matter of time before he obtains status, but harems are consistent, this isn't.
Also I wish we didn't have an Usagi-Drop situation
I should also note that the OP should be sued for false advertising, most of what is shown in the OP doesn't resemble the series and doesn't happen, I never once saw an excavator turn into a mecha
These are my complaints, I really enjoyed the first 3/4's of the series if it had been just the first 10 episodes I would have given it an extra point and maybe even a recommend, but there is a scene where they all climb a cliff and at that point the anime fell off one. It frustrates me as it had been good, it had been enjoyable, but with episode 11 onwards my enjoyment dropped.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 2, 2025
Yet another otome game villainess isekai anime.
We've been getting a steady amount of these in the past couple of years, and this ones gimmick is that it's a 52 year-old dad who is now gender swapping into the role of the villainess, and I would have been perfectly happy if that was the only twist because I do like a good gender swap anime...
But wait there's more, not content with just having that twist, we have the 'Liselotte' twist, if you've seen the PVs you will know what I'm talking about
The anime was fun, it was funny, I liked the MC, while it didn't
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really deliver on the gender swap aspects, it did deliver on the parent swap,
This series works when its centred around Grace and the world of Love & Beast, any time spent away from the MC, away from this world is time wasted, it falls flat, it loses its charm, it was in my opinion a poor choice by the writer, shifting perspective back to the old world, letting you know what his life was like, sure it sounds good on paper, but it disrupts the flow and takes you out of the moment, it would have been better if it just went full Isekai
When it comes to characters, the MC / Grace is great, hands down the best thing in the series, and is the character that carries the series hard, every plot point in the series is designed to create a comedy situation for the MC to shine in, and the other characters in the world of Love & Beast function as support characters to further make the MC shine.
Scenes with the MC's real world family are lacklustre in comparison.
None of the characters get an real growth or development, the story is lacking, everything is in service of of the comedy elements, in service of Grace, which isn't really a bad thing, but there is no depth to be found here, just a good comedy.
Overall I would say it is a good series, it is not amazing, others have done various elements better, but this is an enjoyable watch
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 15, 2025
There's something about this that doesn't work for me, I mean, it's fine... it's fine, it's fine, it's... fine, but my god is it stupid and annoyingly so
MC wants to become an adventurer, to do so he needs a skill, so he tries out with every class to see if he can develop a skill and every time leaves having not manifested a skill.
So he goes home to train, before returning years later to sign on at the lowest rank available meaning all he can do is menial work - clearing trash and construction jobs... but that's okay because he's an adventurer now.
Except of cause
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it turns out MC is super OP and is stronger than anyone else.
The issue is just how dense the MC is, sure he's raised in a backwater place on his own, sure he was told he couldn't get anywhere without a skill... but to be so dense that he ignores the obvious, that he ignores what he's being told, that is a skill in itself, we're not even talking intelligence stat set at 0 levels of dense, but if they were put to -100 levels of dense. There are black holes that are less dense than he is.
I'm sure they think this is where the comedy of the series comes from, but there comes a point where it stops being funny and just becomes outright annoying, Which is right around episode 2-3
This series had good moments, it had potential, it's just ruined by its MC
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 15, 2025
This is a good series let down by a final episode, which, without spoiling anything, only existed as a setup for a potential second season, and actually would have been better served as the first episode for said second season so season 1 could have a complete and clean ending.
As the last episode only exists to get you watching Season 2, I will base the contents of this review on only the first 12 episodes
To sum it up this series is best described as Tsundere The Anime, if you've been watching what should now be called the 'Villainess anime genre' this offers nothing new, there
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are no surprises and many events within the story are predictable
So why would I recommend it?
Easy, because if you are a fan of the genre you will enjoy this, it actually works and avoids many of the traps other series fall into, competency is often better than trying to stand out by trying to be unique, which can often lead to a series jumping the shark where it them promptly crashes and burns. A well crafted story with good pacing, likable characters and actual character development can carry you far, even if those story beats are already well trod by other series before, tropes exist because we know they work.
Characters are given depth, they aren't flat reduced to having just one character trait, and many are given character growth throughout the series
This is not a flawless series, it's not amazing, it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it just does what it does well, it's a good solid series and an enjoyable watch
Definitely one for fans of the genre
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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