Zíza

I totally understand why people don't like this anime. You go for some baseball and it's not really about baseball. Baseball is sort of a place where everyone meets, clashes, but it's more about the dudes playing it than it is explicitly about the game. Games? Don't expect any. Suspense? It's not about that either. It's the slow, unspoken "from life" subgenre. What else do you expect from Noitamina? They're boys between about 13 and 16 and they want to play baseball, and that's pretty much the end of the description of what the anime is about. It's actually not particularly interesting, it could be likened a bit to that time when you're excitedly looking for rain in the muggy weather and it still doesn't come. Still, it's nothing downright bad, it's just probably going to have a hard time finding its audience. A weaker 3 stars.

A leisurely almost non-conflicted affair. Aoi is likeable, so are the others. Of course, it's repetitive in that Aoi cooks and everyone enjoys it and it makes them stronger, but that's actually not a bad thing because then there's no need to immediately devour it one episode at a time, on the contrary one episode a day, maybe for a meal or before bed, is plenty ideal. It follows the classic model by starting off in a suspenseful sort of way, then slowing down in the middle, only to finish again in a suspenseful sort of way towards the end. Note that this pattern is common in almost every anime/manga/light novel. Within the fantasy Shōjo genre, where the heroine is human and the bishis are supernatural beings, this is a hilarious piece of work – the heroine has a very nice and naturally built relationship with others, it's not about everyone loving her unconditionally and having to constantly save her, but instead she tries to help, doesn't take everything for granted, and even has an opinion. That makes her likeable and all the better to watch. Plus I thought the little kappa eating the cucumber was cute. I liked it. A very strong 3 stars, I might bump it up to 4.

Basically just another episode for a series that was a bit more mediocre than its brethren. Imai has something that Mitsuhashi doesn't like, so he decides to ruin it for him. But it actually turns out well for Imai anyway. In a nutshell, without spoilers. Not as funny as the series, but it still follows the same pattern. I'm curious to see the movie.