Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata flat or How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend -flat, whatever you want to call it, was in my own opinion a good season gone downhill. How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend flat is a continuation of the 1st season going on with Tomoya and his band of girls making their doujin-game. Overall, the 1st episode or rather episode 0 was basically a fanservice beach chapter that didn't really set anything up for the show whatsoever, and was a complete waste of time, but after that the story in my own opinion got a lot better as the episodes progressed. However, most of my problems with this show start around the episode 9 mark. In the beginning half of the show they're continuing their game and trying to prep it for the Winter Comiket, and after episode 9-11 it makes all of this effort go to absolute waste. The last few episodes legitimately make all the episodes prior meaningless. I'll try not to spoil too much, but lets get into why I rated this the way I did, with story at a 6. My problem especially with this show is the 1st season did a very good job leading up to a second season and the second season started off very well, I don't usually enjoy harem/comedies that much but I did until the HUGE 180. In the least spoiler way possible that I can make this, the episode 9-11 mark makes all of the prior character problems, drama, comiket, 1st season and up to this point completely useless because of the dense characters known as Eriri and Utaha quitting the Doujin team after making a fairly successful game. I wont go into details with the main reason they quit the Doujin team because thats going way to much into it, but I'll explain my biggest concerns with it since I'll be rating the characters and it basically links it up well. For starters, the main character, Tomoya, I think gets wayyyyyyyy too much bullshit then he deserves, especially with Eriri and Utaha. There was one situation with Kato that completely made sense and was probably the only thing productive from the 2nd season. Tomoya gets ripped on his ability to perform as a Producer throughout this season and gets so much unneeded bullshit that its insane, they act like the 1st time game producer who hasn't made one game before is some sort of almighty god and because he makes one mistake it hinders the whole team, when it was only really the other characters making bullshit excuses for themselves throughout the show, Kato was the only character with definitive reason to have given him bullshit. Eriri, had a LOT of spotlight in this season compared to the likes of Utaha, and I actually am quite pissed that they gave Eriri so much screentime after the stunt she pulls in episode 9 along with Utaha, they could have given more screen time for the cousin or Tomoya and Kato than make a whole melodrama episode bunch for Eriri who basically makes the whole dramatic episodes useless. Eriri had a "slump" for most of this season, and the person who honestly got her out of the "slump" Tomoya, inevitably gets to be blamed for the slump because she hasn't changed as a character and continuously makes herself look stupid because she never breaks out of her shell of blaming Tomoya or using Tomoya for some stupid fucking reason. Utaha, had a little less screen time, but it still was enough to make her character worse then it already was. I think Utaha was my 2nd favorite character at the start and shoved her way down. She inevitably gets her screen time helping Tomoya with doujin stuff or the last bit of drama scenes where just like Eriri, pin the blame on Tomoya and act like he's a shitty director/producer even though that was his first time making a visual novel/gal game. Cut the kid some slack, it was successful, and theres no reason to act like hes limiting you when its you limiting yourself, and that hasn't changed at all since the start of the series. Some other minor characters, like Iori, actually were better then the main characters themselves. While as depressing as it sounds, yes, the supporting cast in this show outside of the characters from Blessing Garden did more in this season then the last. Tomoya and Kato all and all were fine characters the entire season and inevitably learned from their mistakes, Iori actually helped with a lot of the issues in this series to help build plot and other characters were used as well, while the main cast either did nothing but stall more bullshit or add fanservice. My characters I rate a 5 because this was one of the shows I was looking forward to this season and I inevitably was let down tremendously by the way things were handled. When only 1 main character actually goes through change and the side characters did more visible change then the main cast, it makes absolutely no reason for it not to be anything BUT mediocre. The Art and Sound as always I think was pretty good. I liked the art of most scenes and the sound quality from voice actors was I think a plus. The OP kinda sucks and I skipped through most of it, however the emotion could be felt in this series and I like that. My enjoyment level overall was good, I enjoyed the season, I might be a bit harsher then other people watching, and be expecting more from a harem trope series as is, but I felt something different then most other harem series with the creative aspect and most of my problems lie with how the creative side in this show gets entirely fucking ruined by the last 3 episodes and with one of the worst endings I've seen. Overall, if you watched the first season of How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, by all means watch this season. I think most people would probably enjoy this season as is, and I would have too if not what I've said a shitload already, how they make the whole series for the most part irrelevant by the end. I think if the show gets another season or I randomly find the LNs and read them and get more clarification on this, my opinion could change, but as a way to end a season its either good or bad or potentially both. I hope this review isn't too long, but I hope its helpful and doesn't spoil most of the actual problems in the season. I might just be a nitpicker but this definitely was not my cup of tea. **STILL BETTER THEN EROMANGA-SENSEI***

Absolutely phenomenal. This anime is a complete story - 2 seasons and a movie (and some specials). This review pertains to the full show - 2 seasons + movie + specials. You have to watch all of it for the payoff, but trust me the payoff is absolutely fantastic, and it comes in the movie after season two. The movie is without a doubt the best romantic anime I have ever watched. (or on par with Kaguya-sama) It is quite original in my opinion, compared to other romance anime. How so? Well it actually has plot/focus. The characters have GOALS - and I mean real goals, whereas in other anime the romance is the goal itself, here is different. While there are some tropes, with the 2 main girls especially - they will perhaps appear like a thousand other anime girls you have seen before. HOWEVER while they do follow established tropes, they are executed almost to perfection (in my humble opinion of course) While they may not be super deep characters, I enjoyed watching them immensely, I was never bored or annoyed. Probably the best thing about this anime and what stands out the most is our MC. He is a man of COMMITMENT AND SHEER FUCKING WILL. He will not let these hoes seduce him with their feminine wiles. And boy do they try so hard every now and then. He has a goal, he has a dream, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve it. He may cry and beg for the girls - but not for their affection or interest, but for their actual skills. Because in this anime, the characters have actual skills. Is it very exaggerated that some random highshoolers are secretly professionals in the manga world? Yes. Does this matter? Not one bit. They have have goals, in life, they are skilled at what they do, and they care about what they do. Their whole life doesn't revolve around high school drama. How often do you see that in a high school romance anime? And maybe this is a bit deceitful, as the package in which this anime is presented - high school romance / drama - is not what it actually is. I mean it is that too, but it is so much more. MC is probably one of my favorites of all time, he is real, he has goals, he has personality, he is definitely eccentric, but he gives 0 shits about that or how other people might view him, and that is respectable. I promise this is one of the manliest MCs you will ever see in anime. 0 cares of what other people think of him, 100% focus on his own goals. This is a true alpha male. For the first time in anime history you can actually see why these hot women chase the MC, and why they really like him. All that I've written so far may seem like exaggeration, or maybe just not that apparent from watching 1 season. But that is my honest impression after watching the full thing. And the ending with a full length movie ... I rewatched that movie several times, the romantic scenes in it are just incredible. Honestly there's not that much romance in the 2 seasons, or rather it is not the focus, and when there is romance it is subtle. But the movie goes full blown romance/drama in the best way possible. Trust me go watch this show. This is one of my favorite anime, after 20 years I will still remember it fondly and probably rewatch it.

This season starts the same way as Season one ends So it’s a continuation, which is good The only notable change The more character development as you get to see them More and like them It’s a pretty comfortable watch for someone who just wants anime that isn’t too hard easy to watch And get invested in I watched season one two years ago, completely forgot about season two watched season two and understood everything. Oh, harem stuff is okay nothing crazy, which is nice I was a little confused with the ending of season two as it was fairly open but I have now realised that there is a movie so I’ll be watching that next Animation cast and everything like that was really good, so I can’t complain too much. I really did enjoy it Due to the fact it was so easy to get into and isn’t something you need to pay all your attention to Overall, pretty good if you want to watch something casually And looking forward to the movie 7/10

Imma gonna give (8.29) for season 2 ratings. To be clear, maybe I would say that the storyline in the second season is very monotonous and predictable. They just put the spice of drama into the plot at the end of the story which at least managed to lift the atmosphere a little. But, overall I will still say that the storyline and plot the second season is quite monotonous. Characterizations that really show the reality of the creator's world are quite interesting to watch in my opinion. At least there are aspects of the story that are truly in accordance with reality and don't impose the idealism 'we will always be together'. As for character appearance, what sells here is only the appearance of the main heroine herself, namely Katou Megumi, who in my opinion is truly unique and hopes to have a girlfriend like her :) In terms of visuals, for anime that was released a few years ago, to be honest, the visuals are quite promising. At least they can be consistent in displaying the visuals, which ultimately adds to the strengths of this anime. For the audio part, to be honest they have songs that are uplifting and passionate hahahahaaa..Then for the voice actor part, I think all the voice actors really live their roles as tsundere, kuudere, onee-san, and also otaku male characters who enthusiastic. Finally, I would highly recommend this anime for you to watch it from the start. Because, to be honest, this anime is very interesting and unique in terms of story and in my opinion it would be worth it to watch in your spare time.

I just finished the anime and movie and it was fucking great. The movie and anime were both just extraordinary. The only downside was that it ended. This anime has a lot of self awareness which makes it really funny and it has a unique concept. The characters at first may seem generic but the story creates layers of the characters depth through each episode. Most of the characters there are really sweet and are just an enjoyment to watch. The drama starts to pick up in the second season which in a way is a roller coaster of emotions. The only problem is that this anime has somewhat of a slow start but was still very great. The movie concludes everything well to the point where I almost cried. It made me feel like I didn't want this anime to end. The unique concept also plays a big role where it shows just how hard it is to make a game and when the game is complete you feel satisfied even though you actually didn't make it. The animation was also very gorgeous, I love the character design. KATO IS BEST GIRL CHANGE MY FUCKING MIND Overall: 8.5/10

tl;dr: A solid continuation that builds on the characters and bonds from the first season for some really strong emotional beats with some of them, though at the expense of mostly ignoring the rest. This is the second season of Saekano, and picks up pretty much exactly where the first season left off. The game circle, now known as Blessing Software, is continuing their work on the galge Cherry Blessing. The first half of the season doesn’t do all that much, basically just continuing how things were in the first season and setting some thematic foundation for where things will go after. The first episode starts off just showcasing the cast again, though it does also show how pretty strong bonds have been developed between all of them, including between Utaha and Eriri. The rest of the first half focuses more on Utaha. There isn’t any major development in Utaha or her relationship with Tomoya, but it begins fleshing out some important themes, mainly that a producer needs to be able to be strict with the creators under them, and though the creators may take it personally and be hurt by it, it has to be done. The second half is where things start changing tremendously, things start moving much faster, and the plot gets far more intense. This half starts focused on Eriri and what is necessary for her to grow as an artist, and in the process also manages to flesh out her bond with Tomoya quite a bit more. The plot of most of this wasn’t that rushed, but the plot advanced incredibly quickly towards the end to the point it kind of feels like its flying right past a climax while only glossing over it. From there it emphasizes the bonds of the group as a whole and the importance of each member, with a particular focus on Katou where she actually gets development and fleshed out somewhat well. This builds up to the finale where everything built up gets dealt with and gets dealt with hard. It goes pretty in depth into themes regarding what it takes for a creator to grow, and how what are positive bonds in other contexts can be chains preventing growth in this one and how more toxic relationships may actually be beneficial instead. It deals with issues where characters motivations don’t align and there’s a difficult choice to be made, wherein no one is wrong or wants to hurt anyone else, but it has to happen anyway. It ultimately examines the bonds between the members of Blessing Software in a new context, and results in a lot of really emotional moments. The way things end are considerably different from where they started so it feels like the plot has definitely moved forward, for better or worse. Though in the end, while it does get pretty bitter, it ends on a pretty sweet and positive note that’s both really amusing and hopeful for where the story will go from here, which is a really satisfying way to end. The most difficult thing to discuss about the finale, and the second half overall really, is the pacing. It’s not like it’s overtly fast the entire time, but it has phases where it moves ridiculously fast, going from key moment to key moment without any room to breath. Surprisingly, this definitely had a major positive effect, in that it allowed the emotional beats to essentially build on each other and hit a peak near the end that was ridiculously high and that I don’t think it would manage to reach if it wasn’t so fast paced. But on the other hand, the standard negatives of super fast pacing still apply. There are some key themes regarding characters that I don’t think the anime fleshes out well enough, the main one being that Tomoyo is able to be strict with Utaha’s work despite automatically loving it as a major fan of hers, but is unable to be too hard on Eriri due to their childhood together. It also completely ignores characters that aren’t immediately important, such as Michiru who has essentially zero presence the entire season let alone any actual development, but it also glosses over Iori and Izumi who it seems to lightly hint will become more important going forward, but it doesn’t do enough with them if that really is the case. I’ve thought long and hard about it, and I’m still completely undecided on whether the fast pacing was worth it or not, so I’ll just leave it at that. The art and animation are just as good as they were in the first season, which if you don’t remember, is really great with a good art style, good use of framing, etc. I still don’t know what the shifts in art style are meant to indicate though, beyond that one time it shifted to look like Monogatari which was probably just a straight up reference to Monogatari. On that note, I like how this season had a lot of references to other otaku media. The first season did as well, but I think this one went further, and I appreciated how Tomoya’s collection of merchandise visibly grew. Mahouka and Aokana represent! The soundtrack was solid enough but didn’t especially stand out other than a few well used insert songs. The OP and both EDs were all pretty great, and I liked how it reflected Katou’s change in hair style.