Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 1000% MAL Review

Highly recommend for: Fans of visual kei, fairy kei, J-pop and C-pop, and handsome boys like NOCTIS Lucis Caelum come to life... or if you're a fan of Suwabe Junichi and just want hear him say seductive things. If you enjoyed 'Kamigami no Asobi' or 'Bonjour Koiaji Pâtisserie (Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie)', this anime will also be totally up your alley.

Do not recommend for: Everyone else

Full reiew: Judging from the negative comments, I was sincerely expecting the worst. Went in with a very low bar and was pleasantly surprised. From the get go, the protagonist's voice pissed me off, but that's because I dislike Sawashiro Miyuki's high-pitched whine (she plays Sasada Jun in Natsume Yuujinchou). Aside from her, no complaints about any of the voice actors - they were amazing. I came for Suwabe Junichi (he plays Seiji in Natsume Yuujinchou), and got what I wanted. 

From the first episode with the headmaster / principal, I treated the series like a comedy, which made it easier to watch. Taking this anime seriously will likely leave you feeling disappointed, and I'm here to be entertained. It starts with one girl's ambitious dream to make it in the [Japanese] music industry, which is a pretty noble goal in itself. The problem is that the "music school" environment and supporting characters are extravagant to the point that it feels unrealistic - and takes away from what could've been an otherwise heartwarming show. 

Like it's all good to have the usual "prestigious academy with gardens and architecture rivaling an Ivy League university" setting, as is common in this genre... but it felt like the creators couldn't decide how far they wanted to go with an elite student body, and just jammed everything in. A-list celebrity teachers, magical animals, Aztec tribes, and kindergarten children singing like angel choirs. That, coupled with the highly saturated rainbow of colours in every scene, made it quite hard to focus. 

Related to this: the protagonist's eyes. Having yellow eyes can be done well - but the artists coloured her pupils light green...

which, from a design and accessibility standpoint, means that there is almost 0 contrast. It makes it difficult to read the character's expressions, and looks lifeless at best. Uncomfortably weird at worst. 

Going back to characters - Hijirikawa Masato quickly became my favourite (he has a very strict and suffocating family, which is something I can relate to). And the protagonist, despite her flaws, did have one good moment. Early on in the series, she suffers from a creative block. This can be fatal to a creative professional (or passionate artist), and I'm sure there are others out there who can relate to this moment. The anime handled it beautifully, and I got emotional watching it (I was shocked!!). 

Sadly, that was the only story highlight for me. While it was nice to see the characters' relationships progress through songs - because that's what it was, each song was, essentially, a confession of love and life - I felt the overall entertainment went downhill afterwards. There were a lot of cheesy scenes towards the end - so much so that it became quite cringe worthy to watch. 

Re: songs

I think most of the reviewers are sadly, not acquantined with international music. Pop music... IS mainstream music in many parts of East Asia. These songs would easily be popular in the Japanese or Mandarin industry. For some people to give low ratings on the music based off a foreign culture one is not a part of, and not even familiar with... speaks volumes about them. I wasn't in love with most of the songs, but I didn't think they were terrible either, just ordinary. 

In summary, be your own judge! If you do give the series a shot, I'd recommend watching Episode 1 - 6, and then skimming the rest unless you truly enjoy it.

The original review on MAL: View here

Popular posts from this blog

Shiroi Suna no Aquatope MAL review

Note: This is the review that started it all! It was partially deleted by MAL mods (apparently people reported it? Guess they had nothing better to do with their lives and didn't read my profile disclaimer about age differences). I was honestly infuriated when I got the notice of deletion. It's terribly ironic that as a non-American living in the U.S., known for 'freedom of speech', I've never been silenced so much in my life.  This is probably the 6 - 8th time one of my posts was removed on Reddit, MAL or some other U.S. user-dominant website. It was incredibly hurtful and hostile to know that my own voice was being erased. And, more than that, that the people behind silencing me were undoubtedly racist or xenophobic - those who have no desire or care to learn more about nations and cultures other than their own. Despite being silenced, I know what I said was true and still want my voice to be heard.  I can only wait for the day I'm finally able to return back...
Read more

Arte MAL Review

I never thought I'd find another anime that hit me as deep as Natsume Yuujinchou did. And then I came across this treasure and was in love from the first episode. It's hard for me to even begin describing it, because it's such a powerful and inspirational series - not to mention highly relatable.  I'll start there: Who it's for, and who I would recommend it to: - Aspiring artists - Creative souls - Stigmatized, marginalized, or minority folks (define minority how you like, I am using the term liberally here). The more you have been discriminated against (or faced extreme hardship) to pursue your life's passion, the more you will be able to relate to, and enjoy this show.  - People who enjoy strong female characters - Friends of those mentioned above. If you don't fall into one of these categories above, I'd still encourage watching it, but I can't guarantee that you will like it. This is not a light-hearted story like Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, where ...
Read more

Vinland Saga MAL Review

 If you've ever seen Karneval and Avatar the Last Airbender...  Thorfinn (the protagonist) is like a perfect combination of both Gareki and Zuko. Extremely traumatizing past, leading to a lot of *unresolved* emotional angst and insane fighting skills. He has so much potential, and it's because of this, I really liked the story, but thought it could've been better. His character depth doesn't develop or transform the way Zuko's does, which is disappointing.  Overall: Would recommend Episode 1 - 11 Episode 12 and onwards is optional - it's addictive to watch, and the political / action elements keep you in suspense. But the emotional depth of characters, while touched on, still wasn't enough for me, and Thorfinn's original goals (like family) are quickly lost in the scuffle of other character plots (Canute's, Askeladd's). Long version: Thoughts in bullet points, no particular order: - Lots of characters with gray morales (e.g. Askeladd), constantly...
Read more