Zíza

Sweet as sugar. If you've had enough of scheming, everyone against the main heroine, backstabbing, and unpleasant female characters, then you've found your salvation. A relaxed series where the lovely main character is finding her place in a new world to which she was transported against her will. During this search, she befriends anyone, learns a lot, and may even find that romantic love... The series is not about action and tension; it's more about peace, when a person is not interested in experiencing strong emotions but wants to truly relax with something of higher quality and fantastical. This is it. A better 3 stars.

It's a pretty average isekai villainess affair. The heroine is just an unsociable "kúki ga jomenai" OP and that's the whole series. I found it really strange that after so many years, she essentially still thinks like a player sitting behind a computer/console playing for fun with the feeling that nothing can happen, assuming that everyone around her thinks the same way. The heroine seemed pretty simple to me, lacking a proper character, and without Patrick, I actually don't have much to look forward to while watching it. Essentially, the most progress was made by the poor original heroine, thumbs up for that. The remaining male characters were nothing special either, they also had one or two dimensions and that was it. Writing about it like this, I realize why Yumiella still sees it as just a game after so many years... when everyone lacks character. :-D Hey, if you're into romantic isekai villainess stuff, give it a watch, Patrick stands out, but don't expect miracles. Especially not in terms of animation, because they simply didn't spend any money on it. A weak 3 stars.

Ah, well. It took me a really long time to get through that. I kept coming back to it and didn't tackle it in one go because it was so cringeworthy. Watching it was occasionally awkward to the point of unbearable. Awkward scenes wrapped in torment and damaged souls... nope, this is not my cup of tea. The acting performances were weird, the awkward guy in the lead role was the absolute worst, and overall this was soulless. Probably good as a teen book, but the execution was terrible.

I really like Jung Hae In and Jung So Min, so I was looking forward to this. It started out interestingly, a person of a similar age can experience similar things (I'm not telling everything 100%), so it was relatable and quite interesting. But despite the interesting cast and everything it wanted to portray, it was without spark. Actually, I wasn't very interested in how it would end, the characters stopped entertaining me halfway through, the side couple didn't interest me at all, the neighborhood aunties not a single bit. I finished it more out of inertia than because I really wanted to see how it turned out. An interesting concept, a good cast, but the couples had zero chemistry with each other and all tension disappeared very quickly. Actually, I don't even remember what it was about, and I finished it 15 minutes ago. Average.

Honestly, this is already my umpteenth story where there is regression and even a "collision with truck-kun" (or a plane crash, you know...), so it doesn't seem that strange to me. Unfortunately, out of all these stories, Elise is the most boring. Essentially, it's a step back several years, when these villainess isekais started and didn't quite grasp the potential that this subgenre offers. Maybe it's just a weak adaptation because the source material is really well-rated, but it was boring and the heroine quite flat, yet everyone still loved her... well, I understand, why not admire a talented person, right? But that was all Elise had. No other dimension ever came, so she became boring. Besides, the animation was so weak that it offended me. Do the creators really think they can animate a popular manhwa and everyone will be amazed, even if it's poorly done? One simply cannot simp for a single character. And if you don't have that with villainess isekai, then it's just a waste of time. You need a good and strong story, and that... well, Elise doesn't have that either. For me, it was unfortunately a waste of time. I like these stories, but the execution really disappointed me. But for curiosity's sake... why not give it a go, eh?

For the first time, I first read the comic book and then watched its TV adaptation (in Korean waters). The addition of the former fiancée was so unnecessary, as was the alteration! Also, how the friend ended up with the "husband." The only thing I enjoyed more in the series was the alteration of Mr. Lee, he was great in both cases, but in the series, I liked him more. Ignoring the source material, which it is only inspired by, the first half was fine, pleasant, and the flashbacks to the past were quite realistic... but then the second half was so exaggerated, dramatic, murderous, it was a pity because it started off so nicely and the actors did what they could. Like a romantic drama with a vengeful killer, it was good, easy to watch, occasionally cute, occasionally annoying, but actually quite appealing. Spoiler - in the series, we find out fairly soon that the boss also returned to the past, whereas in the comic, we don't find out for quite a while, and when the revelation comes, it's so beautiful, touching, and emotional that I'm really sorry they didn't do it like that in the series. :-)

Vivant reminded me a lot of Tókjó MER: Haširu kinkjú kjúmeišicu, even though the themes and actors are different. But both series had a certain testosterone flair. Even though logic could be disappointed by the shows, it simply didn't matter because they were able to captivate, entice, entertain, and amuse. The series was interesting enough that it wasn't necessary to disrupt it with logic, so I enjoyed it. Acted very interestingly, suspenseful, full of Japan and love for it, loyalty, and the formation of strong relationships. It's not as divine as Hanzawa Naoki, but it's still very high-quality entertainment, and after a long time, I managed to sit through several hours of the series. It was a nice ride, an environment of spies and foreign countries one doesn't encounter so often in a Japanese series. Tragic, yet full of hope for bright tomorrows.

Okay, I expect much more from something like this. Even that anime delved a bit deeper into motivations and relationships between characters. This was even shallower and no one will save it. While I love the voice of Cudy Kenjiro and when he was seen there, it was great, but that's just a small treat for me. But I understand that Meguro Ren with long hair and supernatural abilities will be sufficient for others, even though it's essentially an empty, meaningless work. I was really bored and had trouble finishing it, but it may also be influenced by the fact that I had seen the anime and actually already knew everything, even though the endings were dealt with differently. I really like romance with fantasy elements, but even so, I need more to be entertained.

If it hadn't been for that nonsense with the shark in the end, I would have given it a higher rating, but there was already too much of it, and I gave up. Well, I did finish it - with the final credits - but I gave up any good opinion. Like this; the beginning of the apocalypse is great, how our main guy enjoys it, how he inappropriately indulges in it, that's cool. The pre-apocalypse was a bit painful to watch, but hey, we knew it wouldn't last long, so thanks to the anticipation, it was manageable. Then it was somehow floundering, until it turned into a short but very pleasant road trip (if there's another installment that will be just like this, I'm all in!) and the end... very shark-like. On the other hand, I understand that's how it was supposed to be, that it's actually pulling the whole thing out of thin air all the time, and if you blend in with it, you'll enjoy it, but if not, the end just won't thrill you. In the end, it's just an average zombie movie without weapons!

If you need something peaceful, undemanding, ordinary, something that will gently show you how life is in Kagoshima, a city near Sakurajima, an active volcano, this is it. It is a local production that aims to bring exactly that kind of life closer, and I think it has succeeded decently. Don't look for anything in it, it's just a piece of the lives of four people. Translated.