Season 1 Review:
I wasn't aware of the other media when I watched this, so it was my first experience with this story. I really liked it for the same reason that I loved One Punch Man. In most stories, the protagonist is always struggling against their conflicts. In One Punch Man and Shadow, both protagonists had an ambitious goal, and they've both achieved their goals before the story even started. In other words, they're already a success, and everything going on in the story is serious to everyone else, but just fun for them, and that really appeals to me.
Now, Shadow is quite unique, as his way of life is just to roleplay his fantasies. Mainly, that happens to be playing an overpowered pseudo-ninja hero. People may have problems with his character, but, imo, all that doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that he is, indeed, doing good. Especially important is that, he is, indeed, very much badass. In a way, it is much more real than other fantasy hero characters, because, honestly, if it was you, you wouldn't want to become a hero because you wanted to be chivalrous and just. You want to play hero because it's fun and cool. In other words, Shadow is living the way a NORMAL person SHOULD fantasize about being a hero. Do YOU want to be a hero that has to live through hardship and sad events? No, you don't.
And another factor for both One Punch and Shadow are that they DID work for it. It's not emphasized, but they put they had a strong will towards it, and worked towards it with the ultimate resolve. Shadow is quite a bit delusional, but he is absolutely smart and strong.
I see a lot of people comparing the anime to the manga, and it really doesn't make any sense. The original work is a novel. I didn't read the manga, but I went back and read the novel up to the end of the anime, and the adaptation is perfect. From the reviews I've read, it really sounds like the MANGA deviated from the source.
There was a problem with the novel, in that much of the story is in the first person perspective of Shadow, so a lot of things aren't clear until it is revealed later on in the story. The anime makes sure to hold your hand so you know what is going on. It also doesn't convey the chuuni-ness of Shadow as well as the novel. This made that aspect less funny, but in return, it made the story a lot more sexy, and the action was also a lot more exciting. I thought that the first episode was added content, but it turned out to be a side story in Chapter 145 of the novel, and it is chronologically correct.
The only problem I had with the anime was the ending. Because they wanted to make the ending dramatic, they deviated from the source, changed Iris' relationship with Shadow, and made an over-the-top final battle. While it was fun to watch, I felt that the novel content was sufficient for the ending, and that they just made it harder to make a sequel. If not for this, it would be a 10/10.
I wasn't aware of the other media when I watched this, so it was my first experience with this story. I really liked it for the same reason that I loved One Punch Man. In most stories, the protagonist is always struggling against their conflicts. In One Punch Man and Shadow, both protagonists had an ambitious goal, and they've both achieved their goals before the story even started. In other words, they're already a success, and everything going on in the story is serious to everyone else, but just fun for them, and that really appeals to me.
Now, Shadow is quite unique, as his way of life is just to roleplay his fantasies. Mainly, that happens to be playing an overpowered pseudo-ninja hero. People may have problems with his character, but, imo, all that doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that he is, indeed, doing good. Especially important is that, he is, indeed, very much badass. In a way, it is much more real than other fantasy hero characters, because, honestly, if it was you, you wouldn't want to become a hero because you wanted to be chivalrous and just. You want to play hero because it's fun and cool. In other words, Shadow is living the way a NORMAL person SHOULD fantasize about being a hero. Do YOU want to be a hero that has to live through hardship and sad events? No, you don't.
And another factor for both One Punch and Shadow are that they DID work for it. It's not emphasized, but they put they had a strong will towards it, and worked towards it with the ultimate resolve. Shadow is quite a bit delusional, but he is absolutely smart and strong.
I see a lot of people comparing the anime to the manga, and it really doesn't make any sense. The original work is a novel. I didn't read the manga, but I went back and read the novel up to the end of the anime, and the adaptation is perfect. From the reviews I've read, it really sounds like the MANGA deviated from the source.
There was a problem with the novel, in that much of the story is in the first person perspective of Shadow, so a lot of things aren't clear until it is revealed later on in the story. The anime makes sure to hold your hand so you know what is going on. It also doesn't convey the chuuni-ness of Shadow as well as the novel. This made that aspect less funny, but in return, it made the story a lot more sexy, and the action was also a lot more exciting. I thought that the first episode was added content, but it turned out to be a side story in Chapter 145 of the novel, and it is chronologically correct.
The only problem I had with the anime was the ending. Because they wanted to make the ending dramatic, they deviated from the source, changed Iris' relationship with Shadow, and made an over-the-top final battle. While it was fun to watch, I felt that the novel content was sufficient for the ending, and that they just made it harder to make a sequel. If not for this, it would be a 10/10.