Review of Tsugumomo

Real Score:6.5\10 Tsugumomo, an adaptation from the homonymous Manga, which got a discrete amount of success. A simple story seasoned with basic yet entertaining characters, some clever ideas and a fun variety of situations. No Breakout whatsoever, but a fun experience overall Story 6\10 The Story is generic and it doesn't have anything interesting to offer, but it has some really clever ideas and good episodes, especially during the parts of the Malison Cleansiment, with interesting twists and ,just a little bit though, a serious tone and sense of resentment of the main character, who questions if he's really the good guy, but it's not explored enough though,and that's a colossal shame because it could have been an amusing mix of comedy and seriousness, even if the result may have been silly. The comedy is funny at times but the Ecchi kind of ruins everything:Ecchi, if used in a clever way or if dosed correctly is humorous, but here it's just too much, it feels forced, out of place and puts the overall tone of the story into childish territory, becoming almost a teenage guy wet dream(Maybe i exaggerated a bit) and damaging the characters that the show is trying to establish

Characters 6\10
The characters are bland and have little to no development, even though in some episodes are surprisingly well-written and with amusing lines and, well, character; this hurts the show even more, it could have been so much better if they stayed on that path, without trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator and if they tried taking some risks. The best part is hands down the banter, the interactions between characters, that on their own would have the same personality as my bedside table.When they're together, they're actually fun, hilarious and entartaining: the relationship between Kazuya and Kiriha, despite being a bit clichè, is fun and has the biggest progress of them all:on their own they're nothing, but together they feel like partners, they feel like friends;same for Kiriha and Kukuri, which are believable rivals\friends when they're together, but alone they seem like different characters.If only the show focused more on the individual, not even much, just 1 episode, even 2 at maximum

Sound 6.75
The Music is weird: the opening is catchy, fast, energetic and perfect for the Show,the OST are strangely flooded with a Naruto vibe, they're not bad, but they're repeated too much and they get tiring really fast, they're not the best pieces, but they're somewhat enjoyable nevertheless. The music shines in the action battles, this shows how they were made for action scenes, and those scenes alone. It's a ity they did not want to go any further, the soundtrack had potential

Animation and Direction 7.25
The Animation is pretty good, rocksolid for the most part of the anime. Some of the CGI used it's pretty remarkable and pretty, but, like the music, they could have done more with the expression of the characters, the lack of detail of some drawings, and,well, increase the value overall, not just being pretty and flashy in action scenes.The direction is solid, good cuts, good corners, the action is easy to see and recognize and some the frames are pretty amazing, especially during battles.

Enjoyment 7.25
Despite the Overflowing of the Ecchi, the bland characters and the basic story, i'm just a normal guy after all, and i enjoyed almost every episode, i found the comedy pretty good at times and a nice ride overall. For one episode a week, they've always been 20 minutes of mere rest and some laughs. I loved the characters interactions and the action was enjoyable

So this was Tsugumomo, nothing fancy, nothing too special, just a 12 episodes fun ride, with some sull moments, and other very good ones, some interesting ideas, some forceful comedy and questionable situations. See the recurrence?Tsugumomo is part good, part bad, it has some really clever topics, but they're overshadowed by childish comedy and a really poor character development. Despite all of this, i'm hopeful for a future second season, especially if the staff learns from their mistakes and take that amusing route that they've shown in some episodes. Thanks for reading this review, May Our Sweet and Merciful Madoka be with you and let's hope for improvement, or Kiriha-san will probably punch our balls and eat all of our pudding(#SAVETHEPUDDING)