Look up "badass" in the dictionary, and you'll find this anime listed. I'm sure half the stuff Revy does with guns would be deemed impossible by firearms experts, but after watching her blow up boats using one hand, you're too enthralled to care how possible it is.

Episode 1 impressions were that of a typical Shounen with nothing special to offer, fun maybe, but nothing special, and yet as I pushed forward I found my interest quickly gaining momentum.

One thing I like about HunterxHunter that sets it apart from other long running Shounen, is it doesn't dawdle. There's no time wasting, long winded recaps every episode (Naruto and Bleach are guilty of this) and while it's still too soon for me to say, it doesn't appear to drag with the battles. In fact, I'm appreciating the outside the box thinking for the battles, even if it's not always as exciting as two characters brawling with each other.

The MCs are pretty standard cookie cutter surface personalities, but they're fun, which honestly, that's what matters most when I'm watching a long series like this. Kurapika, the calm intellectual of the group, has quickly become my favorite, especially after episode 9 brought a hint of his dark side to light. I just wish he wasn't voiced by a woman. This often works fine for younger male characters (Gon and Killua are fine), but for Kurapika it's... meh. I was floored when I found out he's supposed to be 17 at the start of this, and I keep wanting to think he's a she.

Overall, I'm finding it harder and harder to not just marathon the crap out of this.

I've always been a casual Gundam fan. I appreciate the franchise, but depending on the series I'm either all in or blah. I think a lot of that comes from the whole political aspect behind it, which has never been my thing.

Gundam Unicorn, however, is on a whole other level. Right from the get go I was grabbed by the main protagonist, Banagher. Here we have this naive, lost in thought kind of guy who turns out to have major balls and iron will. He's also a bit of a humanitarian which just creates loads of wonderful internal conflict after he gets sucked into the erupting war.

The one thing that stinks is the spacing between eps. Having to wait months at a time before seeing the next episode is harsh, however, the quality is astounding, and it's easy to see the time is not being wasted.

I gave this OVA collection two ratings, one for a standalone and one as it was originally intended, as a compliment for the original four part .hack game series for the PS2.

First, let me say, as a compliment, this is an outstanding anime and a creative way to express the other side of the story you play through in the games. For those not familiar with the .hack universe, .hack//Infection, and the 3 three games that follow, all focus on you playing as a character (Kite) in an online game called The World. Lots of shit goes down including your character's best friend getting attacked by some crazy monster in the game and going into a coma in real life, and as you play you realize it's not an isolated incident (.hack is like the original SAO). The rest of the story follows Kite trying to unlock all the secrets of The World and fighting big bosses, making online connections, yadda yadda. It's really a grand old time and worth playing if you can dish out the money for the entire series and still have a PS2 in your gaming arsenal.

That said, Liminality takes place alongside this in-game story, showing you what is happening in the real world while Kite is battling it out inside the game. The anime focuses on four people affected one way or another by the insanity occurring in the game, our first character being a high school girl whos boyfriend is among the group who ended up in a coma. These people gradually chip away at the reasons behind the incident and how they can help the victims. For only a little over two hours total, there is a lot of information dispelled, but the pacing is phenomenal and the character depth established in this short time frame is refreshing. The artwork has a more realistic style to is and is very pleasing to look at as well. And finally, each episode really stands out on its own with a fully developed ascension, climax, and wind down. No, there are no full blown action scenes (leave that to the game) but the tension and not too dramatic drama are there, interwoven beautifully into episodic mini plots, and of course each episode still ties together into one consistent piece. My only complaint, minor at that, is because of the depth of info you receive, it can be a little difficult to follow at times, but the connections are there, they just aren't thrown in your face. Overall, a wonderful OVA and a toss up between a 9 or 10 for me.

Now, for the other side of the coin and the reason behind the actual 7 rating you see... If you haven't played the games and aren't familiar with the .hack universe, for that matter, this anime will probably confuse the hell out of you. While there is enough information to understand what is going on, there are a lot of holes and without the game to accompany it, you will likely be left feeling a little gipped at the end. Even the opening credits show images from the games so you know what's simultaneously happening during each episode, but it will mean next to nothing if you haven't actually played it. All of my good points from above still stand, though, so for that I give a final rating of a 7.

I wouldn't recommend this OVA unless you're planning on a .hack long haul, and even then, I wouldn't start with this anime. Aim for .hack//Sign for a starter anime, or even look into the light novels .hack//AI Buster which goes back to the start of EVERYTHING. Yeah, I like it that much. ^_^

This was what first brought me into the .hack universe. The whole concept of people being trapped in a video game and the hidden secrets of that game really intrigued me. Plus the character designs were fun to look at. The nice thing about Sign is that you didn't need to be familiar with the rest of the .Hack franchise to follow it. At the same time, you still had to pay attention to understand what was happening. And if you are a regular .Hack follower, you can really start putting pieces and parallels together.

Greatly disappointed me because I loved the manga and am a huge .hack fan. The original story got butchered after the first four eps and the ending left something to be desired. The incest implication between Shugo and his twin sister is ridiculous. Yes, he's drooling over her game character and not her specifically, but it's just too much. Incest aside, Legend of the Twilight might have benefited from 26 eps to better flesh out the story and characters. The ending felt rushed into and inconclusive. The one prop I will give Legend is that you don't need to be familiar with the whole .hack universe to follow it, and while the chibi style art isn't my personal preference, it is cute.

Definitely a classic. 3x3 Eyes has its faults, lack of depth for one, but the story is so simple and charming I didn't care. There's plenty of action worked throughout and even though it suffers a bit from the short length (only 4 eps) I think it did an excellent job at pacing itself.

Artwork and animation, its obviously from the early 90s but not in the terrible way that makes it unbearable to watch. In fact there's quite a bit of detail and effort put into many of the scenes.

The ending, though conclusive to an extent, does leave a lot up in the air and unfinished. I can forgive this, however, since there is a second OVA that should hopefully tie things up. That said, my final score will be based on both OVAs together as a whole.

Update: The sequel, while equally enjoyable, still left a lot up in the air at the end of the series (even with the added complexity of multiple subplots). All in all, though, a solid 7/10. A classic with some faults but also with plenty of charm to keep you coming back.

AH, the "conclusion" to the first OVA. I enjoyed it, and the relationship between the MCs is wonderful. Yakumo has become quite the badass in his four years of searching for Pai. No complaints about that. Watching him fight in the first part was especially satisfying.

The Bad... er, sort of: There was a lot of subplot stuff. Now, I usually enjoy complexity in my plots, but it started to get a little confusing at the end there. The bittersweet ending was also a little too bitter for me, but it could have been worse.

The Ugly: There was still a lot that went unfinished, and there were some really corny parts (even for an older anime).

Overall consensus: 7/10 - I stand by my original statement about 3X3 Eyes being a classic. Even if it's not perfect, the charm of the MCs and the overall storyline is more than enough to keep you coming back.

By episode 4, this show seems like it's going to lack that needed umph to make it great.

Coming into the home stretch with 3 episodes left, I decided this show doesn't understand how to properly kill off characters. Half the time it feels like death for the sake of having death. There's almost no proper build up or overall impact, and that's left me annoyed. Awhile back I lost sight of where the show was trying to go and I have a feeling, wherever said destination is, it's not going to get there properly. Also, I hate Esdeath. Her overpowered ass provides more annoyance than entertainment.

Finally finished this. It wasn't horrible. I liked a lot of the characters, but there was a lot about it that bothered me (see above paragraph).

The series was a bit of a troll. Despite its title "Akame ga Kill," Akame feels like a backseat character most of the time, while Tatsumi is played up like the center of attention, which can work, but not in this case. When we finally get to the end I was left asking, "WTF?" (Note: I'm being vague on purpose). I believe the point of all the clusterf*** that went on in this series was to build up Akame's purpose and what drives her, but the execution failed to properly do that for me.

It had it's good points, it had it's bad, and it had the ugly. 6/10

There are people who would give me flack for the "fine" rating, but I really wasn't feeling this "classic" the same way other people do.

By the end of episode two I was on the verge of tears... when an anime manages to do that it has my attention.
Fun characters, comedic moments, fight scenes, badass demons...

The main character Rin can get a little annoying sometimes, just because his voice is loud and obnoxious at times, but overall he's a very likable character. He's actually surprised me a few times in the way he responds to situations. One minute you think he's gonna charge into reckless battle or a hot headed competition, but then he actually shows some humility and restraint. His maturity level is higher than it appears on the surface. And while he has major hardships and struggles, he doesn't milk it with woe is me sorrow, nor does he constantly go off on ranting monologues about his goal in life. He can kick ass too, but isn't beyond getting his own rear handed to him. He's more believable than a lot of other Shounen male leads.
Okay, yes, I like Rin.

I do feel this anime has some pacing issues near the second half and seems to do a sudden plot shift so it rushes near the end. It's typical Shounen, so it does have the usual cliches: power of friendship, good vs. evil, brotherly love, etc. But if you can look past that you'll find a fun, action packed anime, certainly worth checking out.

Once upon a time, when I was like 9 or 10 (God, I feel old) a lovely little anime by the name of Sailor Moon graced the shores of the US. And I'd be damned if I didn't admit that I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that was merely the crappy English dub. My sister and I never missed it, but that was then and this is now . . .

Now, I haven't watched Sailor Moon in over 12 years maybe more, and I've yet to ever watch the original Japanese dub, but what I do remember is the numerous plots and fun characters. That's what always got my attention. Well, that and those cool transformation sequences. Eh, maybe I'm letting nostalgia get the better of me .

Basically, my sentiments lie with my comments on "Sailor Moon." Being one of my very first anime and watching it everyday after school, gives Sailor Moon a special place on memory lane. 6 for the English dub. One day I might check the original Japanese version; I'm sure it's better.

Like the other Sailor series, I watched this one a loooong time ago. This one is particularly hazy because I don't think it got the rerun time the 2 prequels did. However, I do remember liking this one more, I think because of the introduction of Uranus, Neptune and specifically, Saturn.

Typical character rebelling against his dark past type story: some action, a little comedy, and a life changing moment when guy meets girl. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, but I enjoyed the characters and it was a fun little ride

Sadly, I wasn't impressed with this music video. The actual animation itself which was little more than a lot of "still shots" of Black Rock Shooter. There was nothing engaging about it and got rather boring to watch after a minute (let alone the full 4). But I could always just listen to the song, right? Well... no. While the song itself was nice, I didn't care for the choice of Miku from Vocaloid to sing it. Miku is fun to listen to for a lot of songs, but she just didn't fit this one. That metallic, robot sound just made it grating to my ears.

Not bad... kinda like Pulp Fiction in the way the plot is laid out. So if you hate plots that jump around leaving you to figure out the order, this might bug you. There were a couple unanswered questions, but for the most part I felt the "answers" could be picked out somewhere along the storyline. The art style was nice, though a little funky at times, like the characters didn't always seem to fit in their setting - they looked like they were plopped onto a separate background rather than being a part of the scene. The peppered in fight scenes were great to see, and helped break up the sometimes lackluster half of the story. Once you put all the mixed up parts in order, you see it's actually a pretty simple plot. Certainly worth checking out.

I won't lie, I was sad when Bleach ended. You spend 366 episodes with certain characters and you get attached. That said, I gave Bleach a 7 because while some of it I feel is worthy of an 8 or 9, some of it gets a 6... maybe even a 5. Bleach has plenty of nice action scenes, lots of cool characters (both good and bad), and a storyline that sometimes felt like it would never end.

Fillers aside (and there are quite a few) I found that, overall, the anime sometimes has trouble finding proper pacing, stretching arcs out for way too long. And far too often at least 5 minutes of a lot of episodes were wasted on a recap of the previous episode. Really, I don't need to see the same full length monologue and beat down that left me on a cliff hanger again. I'd rather fill those minutes with more storyline. And while the fight scenes are nice, sometimes they're overkill or they bounce around too much between different characters. I'll get into one fight, then suddenly I'm bounced to a second, then a third, and wait, the first? Uhh... third again? It's too much of a good thing.

That said, there are also parts like the pendulum arc that are just jaw dropping awesome. The pacing was great, the story grabbed and held me from beginning to end. The final arc was also another great one, and that was in part because I thought it moved at a steady pace. It reminded me of why I even got into Bleach in the first place. In fact, I can't really fault Bleach for the concept, plot, or characters, rather, everything that bothered me about it was almost entirely the fact that it seemed like it was stalling for time, dragging things out as long as it could (which was probably the actual case since it was catching up to the manga). Oh Bleach, our relationship is so love hate.

Overall, I will be missing this anime, and I do hope that it will eventually return with the final chapters of the manga, but until then, it was a great ride.

A different twist on the whole vampire thing - mutant bat monsters (chiropteran) and a girl (Saya) who can kill them with her blood... just to scratch the surface. Really kick ass, with plenty of action, some hinted romance that leaves you begging for it to go somewhere, and a good ol' unlock the mysteries plot. Unfortunately, (poss. spoiler coming up?) halfway through this anime pissed me off with a character death, and not because I liked the char. but because of the way it affected the rest of the "cast." After that Blood+ kinda switched its tone a bit and lost some of the appeal it originally had for me. Oh well, still a good ride.

If you're a fan of Blood+ then this will likely annoy you going into it, heck, maybe even for the entire run. Just remember, Blood C is it's own animal, a separate world from Plus, with a girl named Saya being almost the only thing it has in common. Keeping this in mind might at least make it watchable for you... or not.

My advice is to at least get to episode 6 before deciding to drop it. For a lot of people, myself included, the beginning is unbearable. The pacing is weird, the whole slice of life crap is annoying, and I personally couldn't stand Saya. By episodes 5 and 6, the story finally starts to pick up a little, enough where it at least caught my interest. There's still a lot of weird stuff with pacing and Saya's reactions to things is probably the most infuriating for me, but it left me hopeful of some sort of payoff that would pull everything together and make all it's shortcomings somehow worth it, even if just a little bit.

There are some pretty intense horror and gore scenes for those who enjoy that sort of thing, so try to get your hands on the uncensored version or else you'll be disappointed by a number of white streaks clouding up your screen.

Whether there is a method to the madness of Blood-C's plot will depend on the individual. Some people found few redeeming qualities about the show, while others felt the series made up for it's sins by the end. I fall into the later category, but that doesn't mean I can forgive the torture it put me through early on. Sorry, Blood-C, but you only get a 6/10.

I struggled on what to rate this one. I started out really liking it, then it slowly lost me until at the end I was literally thinking, "WTF, really?" and "That's it?"

In some respects (artwork and badass Saya) this is better than the tv series that it continues, but it still suffers from a lot of issues. By the end, I felt like monsters and stuff were just being thrown in because the writer's said, "why the hell not?" All it managed to do was waste the opportunity to further develop the villain, which would have been very helpful (and wanted).

A lot of the characters were just bodies in a room and could have easily been missing without any affect on the plot. Still, I appreciate some comic relief when you're dealing with a dark plot, so the guys in the Sirrut crew get a free pass, even if they didn't do too much. In fact, despite lack of purpose, I found most of the characters likable, so there's that.

I can't really say much more without spoiling anything, so I'll leave it with a score teetering between 6 and 7. When I started The Last Dark I really thought it might be getting an 8 but that ending man... bleh.

Watched this dubbed... not impressed with Momiji. Talk about a whiny voice. And Kusanagi also sounded a little weird, like dorky or like maybe the VA was in pain? IDK I'm actually due for a rewatch, since the majority of this has faded from memory (will try subs next time). Basically, Momiji is the key to stopping these evil plant monsters from destroying Japan, much to her unpleasant surprise. Kusanagi, (part human, part plant) fights to protect her while teasing her and acting like a complete jerk on the side. But hey, so goes for the antisocial, brooding guy. There are some pretty sweet fighting scenes between plant monsters and this group called TAC. As I mentioned before, I'm due for a rewatch, so the ending is drawing a blank for me, but I get this feeling the fact that I can't remember means I wasn't 100% satisfied.

I almost feel stupid by how much I get into this show. It's not often I throw my hands up in the air and cheer when a fictional character, especially an animated one, succeeds at something. Midoriya, you're inspiring, man.

I almost feel stupid by how much I get into this show. It's not often I throw my hands up in the air and cheer when a fictional character, especially an animated one, succeeds at something. Midoriya, you're inspiring, man.

I gave this series a 9 simply because I have a great time watching it. No, not the most innovative reviewing method, yes there are flaws, but these days if I enjoy something enough to take the time to watch it, it gets a good mark in my book.

One of my favorite shows, I think. I can't help but smile when I watch it. Midoria's drive never fails to inspire.

Casshern Sins goes at a very slow pace, so it's not the type of anime everyone will find appealing, however, the message behind it is deep and executed in a tedious fashion that really manages to get the viewer thinking.

The overall theme circles around the meaning of life, or rather the point of living a full life. Death, while terrifying in it's own right, helps establish purpose in our lives. And living forever without the fear of death doesn't necessarily mean happiness.

Throughout the series are quite a few fight scenes, many quick and brief, but enough the grab your attention and make you say "whoa." The animation is quite stunning and the style itself has a uniqueness to it that makes it stand out among a lot of anime.

There is, however, a difference between a tactfully slow execution of plot and an overly slow one, and Casshern has a tendency to drag a little too much at times. Even the most patient of viewers who enjoy mulling over details may find themselves sighing in frustration after watching drawn out scenes of staring into the distance or characters lamenting over whatever's troubling them at the time.

Great premise, wonderful art, but the execution needed some fine tuning. Overall, I give Casshern Sins an 7.

Let me begin by saying, I liked Chaos;Head, more than many other people have. Maybe it's because I wasn't familiar with the VN it was adapted from to influence my opinion. Of maybe it's because I watched it in chunks. There are always lovers and haters when it comes to anime, but I was surprised at how much hate I've seen expressed about this series. So much that I feel compelled to marathon it in the near future to reanalyze it, but for now I'm going on the record as feeling it was "pretty good."

A male lead with... problems... Takumi is a shut in who sometimes loses touch with reality. In fact, after the first couple eps I still wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't, then when I thought I finally understood what was happening, a curve ball is thrown to further the mind games.

Chaos;Head peaked my curiosity from the very beginning, and it was refreshing to see a lead character who's so broken. The concepts explored throughout the plot are enough to give you a headache while trying to fully comprehend them, but the end result is satisfying and excellent at pulling you into the story. I loved it!

The ending, while great IMO, did unfortunately feel a bit rushed. Despite all the problems Taku had, he seemed to make an awfully quick 180 with his personality. From my understanding, a lot was also left out in comparison to the VN it was based off of and the drama was cut down as well. Most of the characters were also poorly developed, making it difficult to even care about them. The series was only 12 episodes long, but it probably should have been 24 to properly explain and build up to the ending. If anything, I've been left searching for a way to get my hands on the original VN. I can only imagine how much more intense this anime could've been.

Overall, despite some short comings, I really enjoyed Chaos;Head. And now I really REALLY want to get my hands on the VN.

Nuns with guns... wow. The whole concept sounds funny, not to mention almost every one is a cute young woman with a well endowed chest. Lol On a serious note, Chrono Crusade is about the quest of a young woman (Rosette) trying to find her missing brother (oh yeah, and then there's also the whole Heaven vs. Hell thing, but I won't go into that). Rosette travels with a devil named Chrono who has his own backstory that just adds loads of fuel to the initial fire. Long story short: nuns fighting devils; devils plotting devilish things; religious references galore; and a wonderful story about the relationship between Rosette and Chrono.

I was on the fence between a 7 or 8 for this one... overall, it was a nice anime, which got progressively better as it finally dug into the meat of things and presented with a strong finish (though a little too sad for my taste). The problem was all the extra fluff added into it. If 4 to 6 episodes worth of info were dropped it probably wouldn't have affected the story much, if at all. And some of the characters felt very inconsequential even though they were actually relative to the plot. In the end, despite some slow points, it was a worthwhile watch. It's not often an anime leaves me in tears. A solid 7... 8 if you feel the last 1/3 redeems some of it's faults.

This anime grabbed me from episode one. Lelouch is an ultimate among characters: crappy past, not so good present, and seemingly little ambition until the proper tools are placed in his hands, then holy crap! His tactical approach to everything (like the world's one big chess game) just floored me, to the point where half the time you don't know whether to root for him or not. One minute he's cold and calculating to the point where you wonder if you should hate him; the next you realize he's not and has fooled you like everyone else and you just want to hug him. But despite all his mental power he's realistically and amusingly out of shape and does miscalculate (hey, he's actually human!).

Lelouch aside, there's a wide array of characters in Code Geass for the viewer to dig into. The plot itself leaves you on the edge of your seat, and the ending... talk about a cliffhanger... fortunately you can shoot right over to Code Geass R2 for an equally satisfying conclusion.

Why didn't I give this a 10 like it's predecessor? I think it's because I felt R2 dragged a little... just a little. This may be because of the surplus of new characters added to the surplus of old characters, created almost too many overall characters (even after countless deaths). Still, it stands out as a worthwhile anime, and a worthwhile conclusion that... well, I'll leave it at that.

While watching this anime I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. The beginning certainly grabbed my attention, but the plot feels very shallow as do some of the characters. Our female MC, Sakura, I want to like but she does well to get on my nerves with her preachiness. And the villain's prattling in the last few episodes made me want to smack him. After awhile it becomes the same old back and forth of "you shouldn't do this" and "well, I'm gonna do it anyway." Even the ending turned out corny and felt empty. Meh...

On the plus side, I loved Toki and Yuki's characters, so much so that it got to the point where I think I was watching it just to see more of them.

My understanding is that a lot was left out from the manga, which is a shame because I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. If anything, I will definitely be reading the manga after this.

Parts of it were sweet, parts of it gave me cavities, and in the end it just left me... meh Really an average, lackluster anime for me. I'll add that I watched it in subs. The English dub made me cringe so much I had to quit after one ep.

Let me start by saying if you plan on playing the game, do yourself a favor and don't watch this until after. You'll spoil the story for yourself and the game has so much more depth to it. (Really, if you can, go play the game. You won't be sorry.)

So yeah, this adaptation, while hitting the key points of the story, is very shallow by comparison to the game. Even if you don't compare it to the game, it's very rushed with almost no opportunity to get to know the characters. There's also no time or opportunity for the viewer to focus on solving the murder cases (which is what made the game so great). I mean, one thing that makes watching murder mysteries so fun is trying to solve the case alongside the characters. Alas, you won't have a chance.

I do like how the anime maintains the unique art style used in the game, so there's that (though they get "cheap" with it sometimes). And the story is great even if it's stripped down to the bare bones. This could have really been something amazing if it was longer and allowed to fully explore the characters and cases. Too bad. (<_< Go play the game.)

For what it's worth, Deadman Wonderland was an entertaining watch (hence the 7 rating). However, it left me very disappointed in the end. Why? Because it had no end! After 12 episodes of questions, struggles, blood, violence, and not to mention the whiny bitch of a protagonist, Ganta, there was no closure! Nothing! The hell?!

Okay, okay, in all fairness, there is a lot more to the story. I guess lack of sales prevented a season 2 or something, explaining why Deadman is like quitting halfway through a book. A more valid criticism would be the straightforwardness of the plot. It was very situational, rather than character driven, so the story was a bit flat. But hey, if you like violence, blood, people beating the crap out of each other, check it out. While it's not the jewel among anime, Deadman's certainly worth a watch.

This show never failed to leave me shouting at the screen, "WTF?" or "Crap, not another cliffhanger!" or, "Damn, Kira, you son of a bitch! Why are you so cool!?!" When an anime gets me that worked up, it means it's good. Death Note is one big mindf**k, my favorite kind of anime. And it makes you question your own morals. Maybe Kira's right... maybe killing bad people is justified... but then again who are we to pass judgement?... but then again maybe... maybe...

Ah, Death Parade, notorious for its troll of an opening, this anime has a way of tugging at your emotions, and occasionally even ripping them out and stomping all over them.

The premise in a good one, human souls being judged after death through a game meant to pull out the darkness in their hearts. We get to see a variety of characters and the depths of human emotions. It gets pretty intense at times. There's even a mysterious girl thrown in there that we slowly unravel the mystery behind as the story progresses. The climax to her story really stomps on your emotions.

However, there's another plot point surrounding Decim that seems to be shoved aside into an anti-climatic corner at the end. Considering it was played up as some big taboo throughout the series, I was left wondering what the point of it even was (and disappointed). It's like, this big breakthrough was made and then "the end."

Then there's the other bartender, Ginta, who's presence mostly seemed pointless. Yeah, he was an easily aggravated live wire (which seemed to contradict the rules established in the anime) so he was a nice contrast to Decim, but again, I felt like there should have been more to him.

Maybe there's supposed to be a continuation of the story?

Overall, a real grab your attention kind of anime with some rusty spots in the overall plot. The ending left me less than satisfied, but the ride getting there was enjoyable, albeit emotional.

It's been a long time since I've watched this series (1999-2000), but I really enjoyed it when I did. Art style and the whole young kids partner up with cute animal-like creatures idea does scream 'this is a kids show,' but it's more than that. Digimon does have a plot, a typical shounen, get stronger, save the world from evil type plot, but a plot none the less, and the journey is an enjoyable one. For the most part, all of the characters are likable and it was fun to see all the different types of digital monsters the kids faced. Whether I would enjoy it as much now as i did then remains to be determined, but I feel comfortable giving it a general 'good' rating (7).

I saw this series back during its debut in 2000-2001, and as I mentioned in my comments about Digimon Adventures 01, it does give off a kids show vibe. Still, for what it is, it's an enjoyable enough watch.

Like the rest of the Digimon series I've watched, it's been many years, but the one thing I do remember about the movies and short side stories was that I didn't care for the art style. That alone kinda killed some of it for me.

Anyway, things were kind of rushed I felt, but I understand the dub was chopped up a bit, so that could explain it. Entertaining enough to not be a waste to watch, but certainly not the best.

Short little prequel blip to the original digimon series. nothing super special about it, but a nice little short story, I guess.

It's been years since I've seen this, but here's my best recollection of how I viewed it.

Being under an hour, there was quite a bit to rush through in this short little ditty of a movie. Because it surrounded characters that had already been established in the Digimon series, anyone watching this without the series background to go on, would just look at it as a bunch of kids fighting with monster partners with little indication as to why. You just have to accept the relationship has pre-existed with these kids and digimon.

It really plays out more like an extra long episode, only if it was in episode format, it probably would have been developed more. I also wasn't really a fan of the art style. Anyway, not bad, but not awesome either.

The fourth Digimon series, Frontier takes the digivolution idea (digimon growing into more powerful ones) from the end of the Tamers series and shoves it even further to the point where the digimon partners are completely ditched and the kids are able to become digimon themselves. I remember thinking, wow, that's kinda cool, but also really weird. Needless to say, you get used to it and the series really grew on me.

Because it's the actual kids battling and not their digi-partners I think it helps you 'feel' for them more. The story surrounding two particular characters was very interesting and a little sad. Again, an enjoyable series, and one that really had me impatient for the ending.

This digimon series (2001-2002) was a little different from the first two. Instead of the kids spending most of their time in a different world, the digimon came to the human world and battle ensued. Tamers was a bit more complex in plot than the previous two seasons and had a lot more character development. This added character depth also allowed for a certain level of darkness that set it apart from the previous two series.

Tamers does still have that chibi-like style, but then I don't know if Digimon would ever look right any other way. I contemplated giving this a very good (8), but the way certain parts of it wrapped up didn't fly with me 100%. Overall, an enjoyable series, and from what I've gathered, the favorite one among many Digimon fans.

Good, but left me a little lost at times with info dumps. I would have liked the series to be a little longer to give the characters more time to grow on you, and while the ending concluded things well, there was still a lot more to be explored (Mira's story to be specific).

That said, the characters were likable, just not very memorable. Loser probably succeeded the most as far as leaving an impact, but all the characters were interesting to watch, even the bit ones. And while the presented logic was a little hard to follow at times, I'm always impressed when real world theories and physics are brought into the story. Whether a 2nd season is in the distant future is yet to be seen, but I would certainly be interested in watching it if there was.

Overall, I'm giving Dimension W a 7/10, although I feel like I need to watch it again, so I may revise my impressions at a later date.

I enjoyed this series, especially being able to see Krillin as a kid. The silly jokes worked better too since a lot of the characters were kids and of course it still had the same ol' kick ass battles.

I remember being so excited hearing about GT. Growing up with DBZ, I couldn't wait to see more. Unfortunately, GT turned into one of those jerks who tries too hard to be funny... and fails miserably! DBZ always had a certain layer of corniness to it, especially some of the movies, but GT took it to a whole new level. GT completely lost it's sense of self and the character's suffered for it.

I should note I watched this with the original English cast not the current reboot, which I must say is a disappointment. DBZ was another of my very first animes. I grew up watching it every day after school. I loved the action, the characters, and while sometimes the battles lasted way too long and the jokes were sometimes too corny, I still kept tuning in.

Tried the first ep in subs, but for some reason had a hard time following, so switched to the english dub, which I really like. Really intriguing and the ending song's very catchy. The anime seems a collaboration of various characters POVs rather than just one or two, so you get a lot of story overlapping that just adds to the full picture. The characters themselves are also very interesting... if not crazy for some of them...

Overall, great stories, action, cooky characters, lots of content to sink your teeth into. My only gripe is there's so much going on and so many characters, it can be hard to follow at times.

These were basically two extra episodes that fit into the rest of the series. While they didn't really add anything to the story, they were all around fun little shorts involving the Durarara cast. I especially enjoyed the second one, as it involved the rivalry between Shizuo and Izaya. Good for a bunch of laughs and made me shout "oh shit" at the screen quite a few times. Excellent fun!

One bloody, gory mess... but, not bad. There were a few things that irked me here and there (like Yuka), but overall the character's were good and the story pretty solid (especially for only 13 eps). Though if you're the queasy, faint of heart type, you probably want to avoid this.

Still trying to figure this one out. I'll get back to this after the next rewatch.

Let's see... Fractale has a passive aggressive feel to it, I guess would be the best way to describe it. There's actually a lot going on, and there's even some fighting and guns and the like, but it never actually feels like there's a lot going on. This is in part because our main male lead, Clain, is very middle road with his beliefs, and even in the midst of a war, he has a habit of talking things down from their extreme levels while he points out how he understands both sides. About the only time Clain actually shows any extreme emotion is when it involves one of two things: the two other MCs, Fryne and Nessa, and antique technology. This isn't really a bad thing, it just gives the story a completely different feel than if Clain was a bit more responsive.

As I mentioned, there is a lot happening, and while it doesn't necessarily get lost on the viewer and the big pieces get explained, there are bits of the story that don't receive the full attention they deserve and sometimes even leaves you questioning what the point of it was. In that same light, I felt much of the cast was neglected, keeping me from fully connecting with them even though I really wanted to.

Overall, an easy watch, not difficult to follow, with an interesting premise. Could have used more fleshing out of the storyline and characters, but not bad.

Such a cute, slice-of-life type story with funny characters as well as heartwarming moments that leave you feeling for the characters. Fruits Basket explores the difficulty we sometimes have fitting in and overcoming the challenges we face with the help of the people we love. Yeah, I made that sound really corny, but it's good, really. And it's not just touchy feely crap either. It brings to the table some pretty hysterical moments too (especially since half the characters are cursed and turn into zodiac animals all the time). I was a little bummed when it ended. It could have gone so much further (obviously the manga does).

I've watched it multiple times; one of my favorites.
Great story, lots of action, dynamic characters, and even some comedy to boot. What more could you ask for? Oh, they made FMA: Brotherhood? Hot damn!

After watching the first half of this series, I asked my self why I never picked up the manga. I loved FMA, but Brotherhood just blows it away. The storyline is 10x better, the characters are fleshed out even more (there's a whole side of Alphonse FMA barely touches). Not to mention it brings to life the characters that were never even introduced in the FMA series! FMA: Brotherhood is proof that anime adaptations are better off sticking to the manga.

It was really cute. A little mermaid kind of tale only with little kids. Did have some strange parts, but when you're dealing with magic, I guess you can't expect anything out of the norm.

My rating is in regards to the english dub, which was an attempt to make what was originally an unwatchable anime into something people would like. I should add, they did a good job. While the basic plot stayed intact, the script was essentially a free for all. Imagine an official abridged series, only it's not really abridged, just full of insane humor. Some of the jokes will not likely stand up to the test of time, specifically certain pop culture references, but many others will.

Overall, not bad. Some may not appreciate the humor, especially on the few episodes that would have been halfway decent with a serious script, but many others will find something enjoyable to take away from this. Definitely great for a laugh or ten.

This movie was on my to watch list for a long time, and I have to say I was disappointed when I finally sat down to watch it. While a predictable, cliche plot line doesn't necessarily mean a movie's unenjoyable or even bad, Gedo Senki also had the misfortune of being a tad on the bland side. The conflict just wasn't pushed far enough in my opinion, giving a somewhat monotone plot. The inner conflict within Arren, I especially felt was underdeveloped. If the movie played up his turmoil and resolution a little more, rather than using the time to show so many traveling montages and a 5 minute clip of a girl singing, I might have given this a higher rating. Overall, I felt this movie had a lot of potential, but in the end it just flat lined.

Some may say my score of 8 was too generous for Ghost Hunt. After all, it's a pretty straight forward, simple storyline, has basic characters with minimal development, and an apparent indication that there's more to the story than what we're left with at the end. However, keeping things simple can produce some very successful results...

One thing I really enjoyed about Ghost Hunt, was how the episodes were broken down into groups. Every three or four eps covered a different case the Shibuya Psychic Research Company was investigating, and kept things mixed up enough so that the series felt fresh right up to the end. Though none of these cases were terrifying, some did get relatively creepy and were overall very fun to watch. And no matter how different the cases were, there was never a feeling of disconnect between them. Additionally, little tidbits were constantly being revealed about two of our MC, Naru and Mai implying a "bigger" underlying story.

And while I'm mentioning characters, I should add, the characters of Ghost Hunt were a pleasant cast to see, whether they were providing some form of comedy or just being cool. They aren't overly developed outside of their exterior personalities, but each one does receive a little bit of a spotlight at some point to provide further insight into their personal lives. Mai, in particular, probably had the most growth. Not surprising since she's our main lead. She had her overdramatic moments, but she was still very likable, and I was pleased to see her actually improving her skills and taking action as the series progressed.

The biggest mystery among the cast would probably be Naru, who always behaves cold and obnoxious, but over time it becomes apparent that there's a lot more going on inside him both emotionally and... well, something else. Unfortunately, the series ends just when we get a glimpse at that something. A major bummer, but I will say I thought things were still wrapped up rather well in the last ep.

Overall, Ghost Hunt is an easy watch, one I would recommend to anyone looking for a starter anime or just something to just veg out with and enjoy. I was really bummed to see this series only had 25 episodes, because I could have easily watched this indefinitely for however many cool cases the creators could come up with. So 8/10 for keeping it simple and doing it well.

The opening scene of this movie has to be one of my favorites. The two boys begin a race from the top of this tower all the way down to the bottom of this huge well, some 100 stories or something below. It was an excellent way to show off the beautiful artwork, give a feel for the personalities of the two boys (example: one was a bit more clumsy, but flat out determined), not to mention the scene was fun to watch. It immediately made me start asking questions: what kind of place is this; who are these boys; why aren't they allowed to go to this well.

From there it only got more interesting, albeit a little generic at times, but I could forgive that. Sometimes you need to find a girl in suspended animation for your plot.

Halfway through things started to go "downhill." The movie did such a wonderful job building up this post-apocalyptic world, but when it came time to deal with the conflict it felt rushed, even a little corny. Why does Agito have to shout "Toula" 20 different times? Talk about killing the mood. (Spolier) And he seemed way too comfortable with his new forest powers. I think this movie could have stood being a full two hours to give Agito a little more time to realistically get used to his new strength. The kid just charges like a battering ram. Seemed a little out of character to me.(End spoiler)

This rushed feeling went straight through to the end. I thought about giving this a 7, but I loved the first half and felt the whole plant based apocalypse was a neat idea. Plus, I loved Agito's friend Cain (not to mention John Burgermier does his English voice ;) I'm always a little biased when it comes to his characters.) I give thee an 8.

A nice anime about the utilization of little girls as lethal weapons and the struggles these girls face regarding their humanity and mortality. I did feel a little cheated at the end, though there is a second season.

Played through the entire Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom game more times than I care to admit, so I was really happy when this anime came out. It's really nice to see the action scenes animated and being able to see certain exchanges between characters. I also love that despite how it can only follow one of the game's possible endings, it does incorporate pieces from the other game paths. It also plays out scenes that are only mentioned in the game (and even some that aren't) which helps further flesh out the story and characters.

Being based off an otame game, it's pretty heavy on the bishies. Fortunately, other than the constant supply of pretty faces (and they are gorgeous), the corny "bishie moments" are kept to a minimum, a good move because they really detract from the mood.

Like the game, Hakuoki is very heavy with the history, which may be a turn off to some. Being the junkie that I am with the game, I had no problem following everything that was going on, however, those not too familiar with it or Japan's history might find it a little difficult at first to follow exactly what's going on and why this guy is fighting that one. By the fourth or fifth episode, however, the series really starts to move into the scifi twist incorporated into the plot and is a lot easier to follow. The historical background is still present, as it is the driving force behind a lot of the decisions and confrontations, but it's no longer the main focus.

On another plot note, I think there's also some pacing issues. The first half, whether you can follow it or not, does feel a little drawn out, and some of the reveals in the second half, while certainly surprising and not overly predictable, I do feel they get dumped in your lap.

Characterwise, I've seen comments that the characters are cliched. Not exactly... Yes, they can each be traced to a cliche starter mold: energetic goof, stoic intellect, obnoxious softie, etc. but I think you'll find as the story progresses they are fleshed out into more than just cookie cutter reflections. The problem is that not all of the MC receive the same level of attention. For example, I was happy with the attention given to Okita's character, as I felt his was one of the most interesting, and his story was the most heart-wrenching for me. Unfortunately, Saitou, who I felt also had a really good storyline doesn't appear to be getting the same attention. He is a quiet individual, however, and in the game you really don't get to see the full depth to him until the second half of the game, so I'm hoping the second season ups the focus on him as well.

As for our main heroine, Chizuru, it's annoying but not really surprising that she often comes off as the helpless girl. It's a shame, really, because she obviously has some guts considering she actually got herself into the situation with the Shinsengumi in the first place, but she fails to back up a lot of her initiative and freezes up or stands like a deer in the headlights in many case. I feel this is accentuated more in the anime than it was in the game since you can actually see her reactions. Now there's nothing wrong with a physically weak character, but Chizuru seems to completely lack common sense when it matters most. Even more frustrating, every time she seems to exhibit a redeeming quality, such as her claim that she knows basic self defense, she then fails to utilize it (again when it matters most), making her original claim moot. Again, jumping back to the game, Chizuru's character improves depending on which story path you end up following, however, based on the path the anime seems to be taking, I have little hope that she will get any redemption even in the second season.

Now I've picked this series apart quite a bit, so let me expand a little more on the things that were done right. First of all, the battle scenes, especially the sword fights were really nice. The final episode was my particular favorite and if it's any indication of the next season, then we're in for a real treat. When characters die, even minor ones, you feel for them. Even with all the fighting going on, the subtle, in-between scenes do a fantastic job of helping you understand who the Shinsegumi are as people, not just warriors. Of course, them being warriors is a large part of who they are, but you really start to learn the beliefs behind each individual and see their personalities are reflected in their fighting. You really grow attached, and to accomplish that in 12 episodes, or less is an impressive feat. Finally, the more sci-fi/ fantasy part of the plot I mentioned above not only livens up an already dramatic plot-line with additional conflict, but adds a level of mystery to what would normally be a straightforward war story.

Overall, Hakuoki does have it's flaws and may get off to a slow start, but it's packed full of beautiful artwork, has some nice plot twists, and action. It is only half the story, covering only the first half of the game, so don't expect a conclusive end, but as the last episode reveals, there is a season 2, which will give you a more complete picture as well as a definitive conclusion.

So for part one: 7/10

Part two/ season two of the main Hakuouki story, and the better half in my opinion (See also my comments on season one). It goes without saying, watch Hakuoki before watching Hakuouki Hekketsuroku.

In part two, the story moves at a much quicker pace, but not to the point were it feels rushed. The plot itself wasn't anything grand or spectacular, but it really didn't need to be. Other than the obvious fantastical parts thrown in to spice things up, Hakuouki sticks very close to the actual history of the Shinsengumi and where it hits hardest is with the members of the Shinsengumi and their individual fates. The history itself doesn't confuse and muddle things like first season sometimes did. There were a couple areas were I felt info was dumped on you and could have been handled a little differently, but overall, good stuff. Oh yeah, and the sword fights kicked ass. :)

Chizuru is still pretty useless, progressively worse it seems than the first season, but her roll is the damsel in distress so it's to be expected. I only wish she would put some effort into things and not look like a deer in the headlights most of the time. If you're told to run for your life, RUN damn it! For that reason she can get a little annoying and very tiring, but I can certainly think of plenty of characters I've disliked more.

The main male cast are just as gorgeous as ever. Some receive more attention than others when it comes to their individual backgrounds, but by the end of the series you really have a feel who each of them are and their actions and reactions are believable and sometimes heart-wrenching.

Oh yeah...

I strongly recommend having something happy/ cheerful lined up to watch after this series because you'll probably feel like your heart's being stomped out during half of the episodes. It's that powerful.

8/10 for this half. Overall, I rate the series as a 7/10.

On a side note, I was impressed by how closely the anime followed the otome game it was based off of. It was very true to the one path it followed and still incorporated bits from other ending paths to flesh out the story a little more. If you enjoyed the anime, I would highly recommend looking into the game.

I found this little gem by accident, and feel guilty saying "gem" for a number of reasons. The animation is dated, and there are so many overdramatic corny moments, not to mention some serious relationship red flags in the first half that were disturbing, but the story... wow, it sucks you in. I kept telling myself, "just one more episode, alright, I'm done.... ok, maybe just one more." I really don't understand why this show turned into a horrible addiction for me. If you like romance stuff, do yourself a favor and look this anime up. It'll probably stress you out with the love triangles, denied feelings, and what not, but damn, what a ride.

This is the biggest WTF? anime I've ever had the nerve to watch. It's messed up on so many levels, the ecchiest thing I think I've ever watched, so it can be really awkward, definitely rated R for sexual content. And yet... it made me laugh. It's not the kind of thing I would admit to people that I found amusing, but yeah... I did. Shame on me. U_U

I originally gave this a 6, but after the last couple episodes, I bumped it up to a 7.

The tv series is very toned down from the OVA, but it's still pretty gross and sexual. As it progresses it actually starts to develop the characters a little more, like it's trying to be serious, and I'm not actually sure how I feel about that. I think I actually preferred the over the top, edgy, ecchi humor, despite how uncomfortable it sometimes made me. It's like getting on a merry-go-round after the roller coaster. It just doesn't have the same punch.

The last few eps made me bump up my rating because they felt more like the OVAs, still not quite the same degree of nastiness (which is fine by me) but back to more episodic comedy rather than character development crammed into 10 minutes.

Overall, not for weak stomachs or sheltered types, but really funny if you can handle it.

Oh Hetalia, how I love thee, let me count the ways...

But first...

I should probably mention if you're easily offended than you might not like this show. Much of the comedy plays off of stereotypes associated with people from different countries, since the characters themselves are supposed to be the different countries. Things get trickier when events like the World Wars are treated like an argument between dopey frat boys than the serious conflict they actually were, however...

If you can look past all that, then I think you'll find yourself in for quite a few laughs. Hetalia is my go to anime when I need a laugh. The episodes are short, only about five minutes a piece, so it's like watching an animated comic strip (actually, that's exactly what it is). They bounce around covering various points in history in a less than conventional manner, all the while utilizing overblown stereotypes to personify each country.

Some examples: America is a burger loving egoist who loves playing the hero; China erects Chinatowns wherever he... she? goes and fights with a wok; Italy is a ditzy, food loving, coward who constantly whines for Germany to come rescue him... you get the idea.

One of my favorite lines is from the very first scene: "Man up, or I'll beat you with my peace prize." -- Switzerland says to Japan. This opening scene shows all the countries debating around a table over the state of the world, and in two minutes will give you a good idea of just what Hetalia is all about.

My only big criticism would be that because of this animated comic strip feel, Hetalia does quite a bit of jumping around. There is a lot of bouncing back and forth through history, and multiple stories occurring at once. One ep you're watching a reference to WWI, the next you're watching a recount of the American Revolution, then you're seeing France asking Britain to marry him, and you're like, WTF? Wait, now we're back to WWI. It can get a little confusing.

Never the less, Hetalia cracks me up, enough said.

"Paint it, White" was fun to watch and if you're already a fan of the Hetalia series, then you're likely to appreciate this all the more. All of the characters are representations of countries, the main cast being Japan, Germany, America, China, Britain, Russia, France, and of course, Italy. Each of these characters are exaggerations of every possible stereotype you can think of, but that is what made Hetalia the series so endearing and hilarious.

The problem with the movie is that it recycles the same jokes one too many times. There is no characterization other than the already established stereotypes. This makes an already average plot-line feel stale after awhile.

On the plus side, it was nice to see a storyline straight through from beginning to end. One thing that gets a little frustrating with the series for me is how much each episode jumps around, even in the five minute length. "Paint it, White" still does a little jumping around, using recycled footage from seasons one and two as brief "intermissions" between parts of the movie, but they're more like "slice of life" scenes than actual plots.

Overall, if you're looking for a brilliant piece of cinema, keep looking, but if you want some easy laughs and a way to lift your mood, "Paint it, White" may be just what you're looking for.

Love the action and such, though the fanservice kills a lot (me being a girl doesn't help). Story is okay... pacing I find lagging at some points, but overall it's entertaining. Rewatching for the English dub, though I'm finding some of the voices to be a poor match. :(

While this doesn't look like a high budget anime, I appreciate the simple art style and the cute storyline. Episode 4, unfortunately, ends on a cliffhanger that may never be resolved.

This was basically one big car commercial... Subaru is the name of a character and there were plenty of allusions to cars and stuff... uhh... Honestly, considering the whole "story" was crammed into four 6 minutes episodes, it could have been a lot worse. It might have been halfway decent if it was treated like a regular length anime, but alas, it was quickly pieced together, with little plot. Just lots of magical girls flying around in space trying to collect pretty little car parts to save the universe! As far as commercials go, though, five stars. It's a hell of a lot better than that f'n yogurt commercial I've been seeing lately.

Not the best thing I've ever watched. Zaion had a nice premise at first glance but lacked a solid execution. It tried to accomplish too much in too little time and failed to really make me connect with the characters. A real disappointment because the synopsis made it sound so promising.

I'm torn between rating this a 6 or 7. I really liked this when it first started out, then it was okay, then it got so redundant I didn't want to be bothered anymore. To top things off, the ending was disappointing. I remember staring at the screen and saying, "WTF, that's it?" Too bad. :(

I must've missed something when I watched this series. Based on it's score and the comments I've read, this should have been pretty good, and yet I've been left with the conclusion that this is no more than a pretty but subpar OVA.

The artwork was well done and I liked the characters for the most part. Kenchi's "harem" was for the most part handled in a tasteful manner, not too ecchi, crazy but not overly ridiculous, almost viable that so many chicks would back this one guy.

The big problem for me was the plot and execution. The first half of the series spent way too much time on frivolous harem crap while the main plot lurked in the background with so little presence, that I couldn't make it halfway through before getting bored. When the plot finally does move into the limelight, it's full of obvious information dumps and surprises that make it seem like the writers were just pulling ideas out of thin air. Things are certainly more interesting by the time the ending rolls around, but really, this series might as well have been half the length it was. I should also add, the music for this series was way off. The battle scenes were partnered up with music you'd expect to hear during a character stroll in the park, and killed a lot of the excitement.

Overall... meh... I don't know. I wanted to, but I just couldn't get into it.

Saw this on netflix and figured, eh, why the hell not? It's actually really good, albeit fast paced. By episode 6 there's a time jump of four years, but it works well.

There was no wasted dialogue, and every action has a purpose. For example: One of my favorite moments was just a simple dialogue between Thor and Tiz regarding one of the circle leaders. Tiz goes on explaining how strong this guy is when Thor stops her and asks, "But what is his character like?" That one simple line says so much about the inner workings of Thor's mind. Impressive.

The problem comes in with series length. With only 11 episodes there was a lot crammed into a short amount of time which caused the characters to suffer, Thor especially. In hindsight everything he did wasn't necessarily out of character, however, certain things happened so quickly *cough* episodes 8 and 9 *cough* and his mind was changed so often that it really ruined a lot of the series for me. Even with the short series length, the execution of certain areas could have been much better.

One trivial thing that bugged me: the four year time skip was implemented really well, however, I found it hard to believe Thor was only 15. He looked at least 17/18. (Though in all fairness, he did look good ;)

Overall, Jyu Oh Sei is a hidden gem. It's fast pacing gives it some bumpy instances, but overall has a solid plot. This anime packs a lot into it's 11 ep span. I only wish it had been longer.

One note on the voice acting: I found myself, oddly enough, jumping between the English and Japanese versions. Young Thor's English VA makes him grating to the ears and I had to switch to the subbed version by episode 2. His Japanese VA is a hundred times better at capturing him and making him sound natural. However, by the time skip at episode 6, I found myself preferring the English dub. Teague does a nice job as older Thor and makes him sound more like he's 15 despite him looking older. Also, I felt Third's English VA did a better job portraying him, giving him some sense of emotion during the few instances Third actually shows some. Therefore, the first half I preferred in Japanese and the second half I preferred in English. Weird, right? :/

Contrary to some people, I'm of the opinion that Juuni Taisen is pretty good. Going into the series you're presented with a battle royal scenario between 12 warriors that each represent the animals of the Chinese zodiac, but if you're looking for huge, complex battles with a who's going to die next guessing game, you're not going to find it, because that's not what Juuni Taisen is about. This show is more about the journey than the destination, and while it quickly become very apparent who dies when, I just as quickly decided I didn't care. I was more interested in the backstories of each character, what led them to this fight to the death, how they died, and why this fight even existed, for that matter. The series explores the affects of war and battle on different people and the variety of ways it's handled by them (some with a strong sense of duty, some are philanthropic, some just go plain crazy). For me, the exploration of these characters is what drove the series along and made me want to continue and look forward to watching until the last episode.

Now was it perfect? No. I generally liked how quick and to the point a lot of the deaths were (because again, that wasn't the purpose), but there were a couple I felt could have benefitted from a little more elaboration. The end scene of episode 9, in particular, felt like a let down, and my understanding is that it was explained better in the novel. It would have also been nice to get a little more history on how the battle first came about and a few of the characters were less fleshed out than others. Also, the animation starts to decrease in quality as the series progresses.

The ending is a mixed bag for me. The final reveal was great and tied the rest of the series together, but the resolution felt a little underwhelming in light of everything that had happened. To be fair, it made sense when you look at the character being focused on at the end, but it left me feeling a little cheated, like the feeling you get after being trolled with an "it was all a dream" BS.

All in all, if you're looking for long fights and could care less about character backgrounds, then you'll probably be disappointed by this series. However, if you like learning about the characters you're watching on a first person POV level and enjoy a little action and violence peppered in, then I recommend watching Juuni Taisen. While it would have benefitted from a little more depth and smoother pacing in certain areas, I certainly enjoyed it.

Katsuragi Keima, an antisocial, gaming otaku has to make girls fall in love with him to help a demon named Elsea capture escaped spirits hiding in girls hearts. Sounded so lame and yet... so intriguing. Turns out, it's flat out amazing!

God Only Knows is more of a comedy than anything, and had me in hysterics from the first episode. Much of this comes from Keima's lack of interest in the real world. He regularly uses gaming references to explain the world around him, comparing real people to classic game character stereotypes or dismissing something/someone because it's been overdone in his games and therefore not worth his time. But as dorky as this makes him sound (and trust me, he is a dork), Keima also manages to pull off this completely cool character profile, because he really is GOOD at what he does. You can't help but love him. Add to this his partner in this whole mess, Elsie, the most adorable demon you've ever seen, who can't seem to get anything right no matter how hard she tries (and she tries hard). More often than not, she's causing Keima grief, like when she attempts to help clean house and blows up half a room!

Plotwise, God Only Knows follows a pretty straightforward, capture a different girl each couple episodes timeline. While this may sound like a good way to make a stale story, each girl and her problems are actually very different. Because of this, the way Keima approaches them (and how they react to him) varies greatly, keeping the anime fresh from beginning to end. Additionally, one begins to wonder just how each girl is affecting Keima and his outlook on life.

Overall,9/10. There are one or two parts with a couple of the girls that I felt dragged or was laid on a little thick, but nothing major. This anime's definitely a must watch.

Season 1 was amazing. The manga cracks me up. Why wouldn't I watch the second season? :) Like season 1, the 2nd season follows the capture different girls format, but because each girl is different, it keeps things from getting stale. In addition, little extra stories such as Keima's lesson on video games with Elsie, mix things up and add to the series comedy. For the most part, the anime has been very faithful to the manga and the voice acting is spot on.

Keima is one of my all time favorite characters: a little dorky, funny, calculating intelligence, and while his gaming obsession pushes him to borderline crazy, he still manages to come away as really cool. And what can I say about Elsie? She's just flat out adorable.

Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai is definitely one of my favorites.

Really liked this OVA. It focuses on Elsie and her friends as they attempt to make a band. It has your typical slice of life feel to it, but with the undertone of the entire series, helping it to add to the original storyline. And of course it has Keima in all of his dorky goodness, illustrating that despite his insane gaming obsession, he is human deep down inside.

Originally I marked this as a 10 because, honestly, I just can't find anything wrong with it. A charming OVA that makes me hope and pray that The World God Only Knows will one day come back for a third season. However...

I'm giving this an 8 because if I was coming into this without watching Season 1 and 2, a lot of things wouldn't make sense. There are references to the series as a whole and even foreshadowing of possible things to come, that don't make sense with the OVA plot alone.

Either way, it's a really cute short, and a must see for any The World God Only Knows fan.

Uhh... it was a minute and a half long prologue. It really just animates the intro pages of the manga and shows Elsea at the start of her capturing journey. It was okay, so I'll give it a 5 Really no point to watching it unless you're interested in the manga or anime.

Cute, catchy song but nothing memorable.

As expected with Ghibli, this movie was just beautiful. The artwork alone makes the film glow. The sentiment behind this movie was captivating. The gentle pacing was perfect.

I did, however, find the climax to be weak. While the very ending didn't bother me, the conflict prior to it lacked the intensity it could have had and dampened my expectations. Otherwise, a very nice film. :)

I love this movie (the full uncut version, mind you). The movie explores the earth in the far future, where most of the land is covered in poisonous forests and inhabited by giant insects. Humanity is slowly being choked out as the forests spread into the few remaining safe places. You've probably guessed by now that this has a save the planet message behind it, but it's so much more than that. Nausicaa herself is a wonderfully strong female character, and the love between her and her people is heartwarming. It's the bond that she shares with all living things that really drives the story forward.

I get the sense this show is a little underrated. The story is supernatural theme, fighting demons, but it actually follows a plot rather than kill a demon per ep. Most of the characters are very likable, especially the lead. He's not what you'd call a deep individual, but he does reflect a lot on his actions and despite any underlying talent he has, he actually has to work at getting stronger (throughout the entire series, not just 2 or 3 eps). The series itself feels kind of like a story arc from a longer series (like Bleach or Naruto has, but better). It's longer than a 13 or 26 ep series to really flesh out the story, but short enough so you're not asking yourself why you're still following it. My biggest beef is that I wish it could have actually continued further. A lot of things were kind of dropped, such as the characters Yuri and Tatsumi Mino, Yoshimori's cake baking obsession, and of course, Yoshi's original goal to seal Karasumori. While these were not of major importance to the main plot at hand, they did leave lots of loose ends and made it obvious there was still a lot more to the story. Because of this I can't give it the 9 I wanted to. There's no doubt Kekkaishi had the potential to go a lot further without becoming stale.

A good series. Engaging and fun. Not sure how it would appeal to hardcore gundam fans, as a casual fan I enjoyed it.

It's been a while since I watched this, so I'm fuzzy on the details... What I do remember is begging for the next episode to come out each week. It's your usual war stricken universe, as is typical with gundam. The characters Athrun and Cagali are what really made this series for me.

I loved this series.

I liked this, though sometimes the jumps between episodes left me wondering if I had missed something. There would be time skips and then there wouldn't. And one particular episode seemed randomly placed, though for all intents and purposes, it connects a specific character to the original Gundam series this is a prequal to. Because this was meant to be more of a backstory for Char Aznebal, one of, if not the most, iconic Gundam character, it makes sense that the episodes themselves were spotty.

Politics are also not something I've ever enjoyed and so it stands that I get a little lost sometimes when watching some of the Gundam series. And yet I somehow keep coming back to them. I've always wanted to watch the original Gundam series that started it all, so this was a good way to ease into it to give me a background before I tackle the original.

I can understand the appeal of this series to many people. It has a larger than life personality, throwing battles and nonsensical crap in you face and is meant to let the viewer just enjoy the ride. Some even argue it turns the classic tropes of anime on their heads, making the series some sort of genius satirical piece. It even has quite a few funny moments, and some nice (not to mention weird) plot twists. I get it, buuuuut...

I'm afraid I don't find it the amazing "savior of anime" claim I've seen floating around the internet. Really, I often found myself thinking, "what the hell did I just watch?" and not in a good way. Kill la Kill, while I admit is often entertaining, and while I do like the sassy, female MC Ryoko, the series also tries too hard to the point where it sometimes bored me. Really, the constant yelling and fighting and yelling and more fighting and monologuing (also being yelled) just wore me down at some points. I guess many would argue that's the point, that's the satire making fun of these moments in other anime, but after a while it just got frustrating. Every time I thought there might be a little more actual plot I was rushed into another battle scene. It's like grinding dungeons in a JRPG. Eventually the thrill wears away and you're left wanting actual substance. Then we hit episode 16, and all starts to come together... er, sort of...

Not gonna lie, I thought the whole "reveal" was one of, if not the most, ludicrous things I've ever heard of, and don't even get me started on the Nudist Beach bulls**t. It was the final straw, if you will, but I was already so far along, what was another 8 eps, right? Well, it turns out that it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was pretty f'n awesome, insanity and all. I know I'm being vague, but there's not much depth to the plot other than the couple twists that occur. The battles and reveals took away the monotony of the first half of the series, and made me bump my overall impression up to a 7.

On a side note, the character Satsuki was awesome.

Final thoughts: If you're a serious, complex plot kinda person and/or dislike lots of battle scenes, this may not be for you, but if you need something to veg out on or like an explosion of fight scenes and craziness, then have at it. I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride.

Over the top dramatic on occasion with some of the typical Shounen tropes, but overall an awesome series. I love the artwork and the action sequences are beyond amazing. Our MC is also very likable, as are the rest of the cast. It's nice to see characters who fail regularly and have to struggle to get better, whether it be training harder or overcoming personality flaws. I've become quite the Zenitsu fan, despite how loud and chicken-hearted he can be. Usually his character type would annoy the hell out of me, and yet I can't help but love him. Perhaps it's because he is so excessively over the top that I can't help but laugh when he goes into one of his fits. He starts to get some hints of character growth by the end of the series, but I'm hoping this progresses much further in future seasons.

I'm kinda on the fence with my rating. I really want to give it a 10. Eps were amazing. The last one made me want to cry. But something is holding me back. Argh! I wish I knew what!
Kino has a slice of life kind of feel to it. It's just a girl (who I thought was a boy until she talked) who travels to different countries on her talking motorcycle (which is apparently not unusual in this world). Each place or person she visits/meets has its own (strange) customs and story to tell. Like the viewer, Kino is just a spectator. She accepts that that's just how it is, and it's none of her business, even though you sometimes wish she would be a little more emotional. Maybe that's why I couldn't give it a 10?

The beginning really had me, but somewhere along the way I started to not necessarily lose interest but just get bothered by a lot of things. I'll keep it vague, as usual, to avoid spoilers.

First off, like I said, the beginning really had me. Shinichi's arm gets taken over by the parasyte, Migi, and he needs to come to terms with this. It seemed like I was going to get a story of understanding between opposing species, meaning of life stuff, and even some ass kicking monster fighting along the way. Not a bad start at all, and it had me all on board right up until about episode 8.

After 8, there was some good action, some crazy fighting, even a little meaning of life stuff like I'd hoped. Overall, a good ride and worth watching.

Now for the not so good...

Shinichi's relationship with Murano stressed me out, starting right around episode 8. Considering what has happened to him up until this point, awkward situations are understandable, but as time went on it just got more annoying. "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong." "You can tell me, Shinichi." *uneasy laugh* "Nothing's wrong. Really." Argh! Just tell her you can't tell her or something! Anything! This same song and dance every couple episodes. Sheesh! Needless to say, their relationship was often distracting.

There were a couple of characters who seemed pointless (*cough* Kana) never having enough build up to make their stories mean much. Even Shinichi's mother, who plays a significant role in his development didn't have as much backstory as she could have. They should have milked their relationship a lot more.

The one character I really liked was Ryoko Tamina. While I can't say I "liked" her much as a person, her character was very engaging to watch, seeing her evolve in her understanding of humans. She was probably the most initiative and open minded character in the whole series.

Plotwise, again, after episode 8, I felt like the show started to loose it's direction. Is this a war against monsters? Is this a let's understand each other, philosophic story? Is this school romance drama? After awhile I stopped trying to figure out where the show was going and just watched. It could have very well been all of these thing if it was organized a little better, but when the bulk of my school drama is "Tell me." "Er, no." And monster fights fill the spaces in between, I tend to not care anymore.

If I was to pull a final message from all of this, it's that all life has a right to living. A life form that was stronger than humanity popped up. That's evolution. That's life. If I was to take this meaning a step further I would say that it's not fair to label a lifeform as evil because it's different. I believe Parasyte was trying to show this, but fell short, having only Ryoko Tamina and Shinichi's rambling at the end to show this.

Overall, I give it a 7/10. It wasn't bad and is certainly worth watching, but it needed a lot of fine tuning for me.

Three really sweet love stories. Each story is broken into two roughly 6 minute episodes, so 12 minutes per story.

Out of the three, I felt the first the most successful in presenting a "full" plot and had the most depth with the character's emotions. It was my favorite of the three stories and really tugged at the heartstrings near the end. The second was again very touching with a childhood friend purity behind it, but left me wanting just a little bit more. The third was the least successful for me. Though still a nice short love story, it felt incomplete and could have been stretched a little longer. Overall, some very sweet romance stories that will warm your heart.

9/10 for story one.
7.5/10 for story two.
6.5/10 for story three.

Overall, 7/10

This can be quite the funny show. It is a harem anime, not exactly a favorite genre of mine, but it pushes various elements to be so over the top ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. It's also impossible for me to not like the main character, Ayumu. He's very dry and sarcastic with his comments most of the time, which just adds to the hilarity when he does flip out. Oh, who am I kidding. I like this show BECAUSE of Ayumu.

Ahem… There are also some great creative elements at work when it comes to certain character backgrounds that really pulls you into what story there is. Unfortunately, the show does do a lot of bouncing back and forth between wanting to tell a story and wanting to just be an episodic life in the day set up. Because of this, the flow is not always as smooth as it could be and the serious elements sometimes come off as corny.

Another problem is the fan service, especially in the first half. Harem anime or not, the level of fan service really starts to detract from the show and what attempts there are at an actual plot. On top of that, I feel like it sometimes tries too hard with the perverted humor, leading to stale jokes. For example, seeing the male lead get stuck transforming into magical girl clothes is hysterical the first time, especially since he's completely distraught over giving people the wrong impression. Unfortunately, seeing full transformation sequences so often gets old, as does the constant labeling of him being a "pervert" for every stupid (often unintentional) thing he does.

Overall, though, not a bad show. I was debating between a 6 and 7 on this one due to the kinks in the plot, however, it is a comedy first, and it did well making me laugh so, 7/10. On with Season two!

I watch this show for a insane levels of comedy and of course for Ayumu. He's kind, sweet, sarcastic, sometimes overdramatic with some awkward quirks, and is just a little bit perverted at times. I don't even question how he's unintentionally established his harem. He makes the show.

As a continuation from season one, "Of the Dead" falls short with it's plot, which is virtually non-existant until about episode 7. The episodes are just as funny as season one, though the crude jokes about Ayumu's ass, and Sera's hostility toward Ayumu does grow annoying to the point where it was crippling the series at times. Still, I found as the season moved into later eps, things did improve. Episode four was especially hysterical, and Ayumu never ceases to crack me up. His dancing in ep 5 killed me.

Overall, I give it props for having the guts to show racy humor, though things sometimes get a little too weird. Me being a girl also leaves me feeling uncomfortable when the fan service gets thrown out there. *sigh* I really need to stop watching harem anime. The lack of plot and the sense that I was watching a chunk of fillers made this less appealing than season one but in the end made up for it with Ayumu's comedy. I'll keep this as a 7/10 like season one, but add a point if you really like fan service.

Hahahahahaha! Damn it, Ayumu. Oh how you crack me up so. <3

Short little stories with the main cast, all focused on seeing just how crazy things can get (and they get pretty f'd up crazy). Funny stuff, but a little too over the top with phalic humor, among other things for my taste.

If you like the main series, then definitely check out this OVA. I gave this a 7/10 for the humorous aspects but if awkward/sex related humor makes you really uncomfortable turn around and run away now.

I know some people really loved this movie, and I won't argue that it had a certain depth to it; the artwork was breathtaking; it even choked me up a bit at that final scene. But overall it just didn't grab me, in fact I was kind of bored through a good chunk of it. I think I would have liked to see more character development, even if it was just a romp around a field between the three kids to further solidify their connection.

(Semi-spoiler coming up) And maybe I was missing something, but I don't quite understand why Sayuri had to be put in a dream coma to begin with. I mean, I understand "why" it was happening, but why did it have to happen? Why did her grandfather need to build that tower in the first place? I'm assuming it was part of a parallel universe research thing, but that was never clarified. Maybe I'm missed something? Too many loose ends for me. (End Spoiler)

I wanted to give this a 7, but I was so blah by the end I could only bring myself to give it a 6 (maybe 6.5).

I couldn't get into this. My expectations after watching the first episode was supernatural mystery and action with some comedy thrown in between the two MCs. What I got was a lot of dialogue heavy supernatural themed reasoning with the occasional action sequence every couple eps. I don't feel like there's ever much going on and the "mystery" deduction elements weren't very engaging for me. Do I really need to listen to the MC reason with a giant spirit snake for 20 minutes straight? No, thank you. It also rarely feels like anything is at stake due to the one character's abilities. While there is an overlying threat, there remains a lack of suspense that takes away from the importance of what the characters are trying to accomplish.

These two eps were meant to be extras that get coupled with the manga, so if you haven't read said manga this OVA will basically leave you confused. (In case you're wondering, the first episode takes place around chapter 15 while the second takes place around chapter 32.)

So, needless to say, there's little plotwise since these are only two pieces of the puzzle, and because it relies heavily on having read the manga, there are quite a few holes, especially in the first ep. The animation is a compilation of animation and still shots, which was a little frustrating, and while I like the character designs, I felt that the quality was a bit inconsistent at times.

On the plus side, even if you haven't read the manga, some of the scenes are really sweet, especially episode two. If you have read the manga this is just a nice little bonus, though some may find it a cringeworthy comparison to the original story.

My suggestion, read the manga first, and check out the OVA as you reach the related points in the story. For further thoughts on the manga, you can find it in the comments on my manga list.

Hanging between 8 and 9 on rating. The main character is an author who wants to write a book of a hundred ghost stories. He meets this strange trio who cleanse the dark spirits out of bad people, or something to that effect. Each episode or couple episodes focused on a different paranormal type tragedy/horror. The art style was out of this world, and I loved the main characters. It was overall a very dark, horrific type anime, but an awesome watch. I only wish it could have been longer.

Not what I expected, and I mean that in a good way. Level E is one of those shows I can count on to put me good mood. Funny stuff.

I found this series... awkward? It just didn't draw me like it does other people. Aside from the strange relationship between a man and boy weirding me out, I was kind of hoping for more of the weird sacrifice/fighter battles. The series left me feeling unfulfilled. Guess I'll have to check out the manga.

If it wasn't for work I would have marathoned this. This show is that awesome.

LovCom grabbed me right from the beginning with its crazy comedy. Risa and Otani's bantering had a tendency to leave me laughing like an idiot, and the background characters were equally entertaining, especially Nobu and her "darling" boyfriend, who when not acting like two drunk lovebirds, were adding satirical commentary or just behaving flat out crazy. By the end of the series, even characters I disliked when they first appeared, had grown on me to some degree just because they didn't fail to make me laugh.

Of course, comedy is only one half of LovCom. This is a romantic comedy, after all, and I liked the way LovCom handled the growing romance that was its core. Love confessions are not always met with acceptance, and seeing a good friend in a romantic light is not always easy. The series was very thorough about dealing with MC's feelings. And I could probably write a book talking about all the cute little moments that happen, and how many times this show has left me feeling like a giddy little school girl, but I will contain myself, I suppose. :3

So if it's that good, then why not a perfect 10? Well, LovCom does have a couple short comings, the biggest being the pacing. While the series is meant to put a lot of focus on a growing relationship and the conflicts of moving from friend to lover, the series was, at times, like a roller coaster with too many hills. There are only so many times you can watch the cycle of determination, disappointment, giving up, and becoming determined again, before things start to drag. These cycles took up a good chunk of the middle episodes, time that would have been better spent on the ending eps, which were sometimes a little rushed. Fortunately, there are still plenty of funny and tender moments to make up for any pacing inconsistencies.

Risa's whining also gets a little grating to the ears after awhile, and again a lot of this was towards the middle of the series. Don't get me wrong, the girl had every right to be upset in most cases, but because of LovCom's repetitive cycling, by the third or fourth time around my sympathy started to wane. Actually, you know what, scratch what I said about the roller coaster thing. I'm pretty sure Risa's whining is what drew my attention to it to begin with.

Eh, whatever. LovCom was flat out awesome. Otani forever! 8/10

After hearing so much hype about this anime, I decided to finally give it a try. The first ep I didn't even finish because it was just a bunch of girls talking about the way they ate food for what seemed like a full ten minutes. I didn't understand why this was so popular...

Over a year later and I gave LS a second chance. I still don't understand the hype, but I'm starting to see the charm to it, at least. While the show hasn't left me laughing my head off, it does warrant a chuckle or two, and I do find Konata's quirky nature entertaining. If anything, my favorite part would be the Legendary Girl A scenes, when the store clerks go nuts over Konata's presence and the Lucky Channel at the end of each episode. The five minutes of banter between the guy and bi-polaresc girl does get quite amusing.

Overall, I still think of Lucky Star as overrated since I still had to drag my feet through it. Half the time I just play it in the background while I do other things, since most of the time the characters are just having conversations and not really doing anything. While I'm glad I gave it a second chance, the rewatch value for me is low.

Trying something new here by writing my impressions as I watch chunks of the show. I'll keep it in general terms so as not to have spoilers. For just the final impressions, scroll to the bottom.

Ep 1-6:
So far I can't see why people hate this so much. No, it's not perfect. The animation gets messy at points and some of the character tropes used are sometimes done poorly. But the intrigue of finding out whatever the hell is going on drives this show forward, even through some of the messier/slower points. And I don't care what anyone says, Emiru is so far the most interesting character in this show. That said, by the end of ep 6 I still have no clue where any of this is going and the show does a dammed good job at making me feel uncomfortable (or maybe that's mostly Heito's fault).

Ep 7-10:
Still great about pulling me through with all of the mysteries and questions. There's a nice balance of reveal and more questions without feeling like an info dump, and I can really dig down and concentrate on what's happening (even if I'm not always 100% sure what's happening). Not too impressed with some of the characters. Sasame's actions feel forced, and half of the MCs are really not treated as such. You could cut half of them out without noticing, but maybe this will change down the line. Some good character development near the end for Akashi.

Ep 11-14:
Holy crap emotions! Emotions, emotions, emotions! I didn't mind too much, but I can see how this would bug a lot of people (and has, based on the forums). This series is extremely character driven, but unfortunately, the action end of it sometimes takes a back seat for a little too long, making it drag. That and some of the character's drama is a little too over the top. Akashi, you're one scary mofo, and that BKG music is creepy as hell.

That aside, I'm rather enjoying this slower pace and character attention (though I may be in the minority). There is a disjointed feel with certain parts of the plot, like times skips later filled in with flashbacks, but this non-linear plot works for me, maybe because everything else is so confusing. I feel like something big is coming where all this pieces are suddenly going to click, and I hope it blows my mind. I'll conclude this portion of the review with one last note: Minashi is one interesting bastard.

Ep 15-18
A lot of information revealed these last few eps, and everything is falling into place rather nicely. I didn't quite expect the reveal to be what it was, and it turned out to be more complex than I thought, a real snowball effect. Very nice. Even so, the writing isn't perfect. I personally think the whole relationship part between Akashi and a certain someone wasn't built up properly so it makes certain parts feel very off. There's also favoritism being played with this certain someone, and it's troubling how other characters are taking a backseat when they're also in the middle of everything. A few other notes: there is a lack of battle scenes, but I personally don't mind because I'm enjoying wrapping my head around the story itself. A lot of character growth from Akashi, and even a little from Iwato and Raika (which I was very happy about). 6 eps left. Will probably marathon the last bunch. can't wait to see how this ends.

Ep 19- 24
My biggest complaint up to this point is really the way certain relationships were set up. They were extremely important to the overall plot, and sometimes they just didn't have enough strength behind them to drive everything home. There were a number of sad moments in this last stretch of episodes, none of which I shed a tear for (and I'm usually very easily affected by that kind of stuff). That aside, I liked the conclusion because in the end it really did focus on the overall theme of the strength of bonds, forgiveness, moving forward, and keeping hope alive. "Darkness is never born as darkness. It is born when light is lost."

Final Impressions:

I feel like this show's very underrated. Despite it's imperfections, it kept my interest and then some. No, the action was not played up and there was a slower pacing which pissed a lot of people off, but I thought it worked well to build up the focus on what was most important, the characters and theme of the show. In fact, they could have given even more attention to those character bonds, which would have made the climatic points more powerful.

The growth of some of the characters was very interesting to watch, specifically, Akashi, Minashi, and Emiru. Other characters did suffer, however, including Sasame, who should have been given a little more personality (see above note). A lot of said characters, I noticed, received a lot of flak because they were too weak, made stupid decisions, or even went a kinda crazy, but in hindsight, one needs to look at the background of many of these characters. If these were real "average" people thrown into such a situation, they're actions wouldn't likely be much different. Yes, it's frustrating to watch someone unqualified and useless at piloting a giant mecha, but how many people could easily undertake a job like that without any prior training?

All in all, M3 is something you really have to wrap your head around. There's some action, but not enough to satisfy some people. Rather, the focus is on the characters and the relationships between people. This is what I loved so much about this anime series, but sadly this is also where it suffered a little. To fully drive this theme home, the characters really needed to make me feel for them and for those bonds. Sadly, the two who managed to do that best were only secondary characters, Iwato and Reika. Still, I really enjoyed this series and thought it was pretty good, despite it's sometimes lack of punch. I pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I'm giving it a 8/10. If it had cleaned up the characters a bit and made it so that I could have connected with them more, it would have easily been a 9.

This is a spin off of The World God Only Knows, surrounding the side character, Kanon, and more or less a tribute aimed at her fans, so if you don't like her, her songs, or magical girl stuff makes your eyes bleed, feel free to pass this OVA right on by.

That said, for 24 minutes, Magical Star Kanon isn't half bad. Yes, it doesn't have any depth to it, and it's a pretty straight forward plot. Without knowing any of the original story from its parent series, you might also find yourself confused. But for what it is, it's entertaining and very cute, and manages a complete storyline (or as complete as it can get) in one episode. I guess you could say it's more like a filler, but a decent one, without the frustrations of interrupting the main plot. Any corny aspects can be easily overlooked because most of the time it leaves you going, "dawwwwww." :3

This show not only turns the magical girl stereotype on it's head, but it's one big mindf*** The fun is trying to predict what's actually going to happen, because it rarely plays out the way you'd think. It applies some unique art styles when it comes to the battle scenes, and the characters themselves are fun to look at. Overall, a wonderful anime with a fitting ending. It is, however, a very dark series, so if you're only into bright, happy, fun anime, this isn't it.

I didn't rate this yet, cuz I'm not sure how to. :/ It was a fun little parody opening, though.

Could have been so much more. The story starts out alright but gets cut off before you can really go anywhere. It's sad because I really enjoyed what little of it there was.

I really like this anime. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, but it's proved itself to be a wonderful story. The pacing can be a little lagging at times, especially with the occasional filler type episode, but it provides time to build the characters and show their journey without moving too fast or growing stale. There's also plenty of gun fights, chase scenes, and other adrenaline pumping moments for the action junkie in you (though don't expect it to be all action all the time either).

The dynamic between Michiko and Hatchin is one of an immature adult and a mature child, but not in the typical spoiled, rich woman lassoed with a tough little girl kind of way. Michiko is on a mission and a 100% badass who takes charge of this little girl, the one connection to an old lover Michiko's trying to find. Action follows. Feels are felt. And just like Michiko and her motorcycle, it's one wild ride.

Michiko to Hatchin is all about the journey, and what a wonderful one it was.

I loved this movie when I first saw it. A relationship that sprouts between a boy and girl after the girl discovers someone is checking out the same books from the library that she is. I'm very picky about chick flick type stuff... this well deserved it's 10

Okay, so I was a little bent on whether I should go with a 10 or not on this anime since I don't like handing out 10s so easily, but I really couldn't come up with a good reason not to. Mirai Nikki is just an amazing premise with complex characters and twisted, mind fucking plot twists.

The story revolves around Yukki, a reserved individual with a lack of friends who basically spends his time keeping a diary of everything he sees in the world round him. Then one day his diary starts writing itself, predicting the future. He soon learns this is part of a life and death game set in motion by Dues, the god of time and space. Yukki must compete with 11 other diary owners for the chance to become the new god or die in the process. Oh yeah, and one of the diary owners is a psychotic yandere who's madly in love with him. In fact her diary predicts his future because she's a stalker. And you thought you were having a bad day.

I was a little surprised at first that the male lead, Yukki, was voiced by a female, but his wimpy nature works well with the more childish voice, so you get used to it. That said, he is a whiny little bitch a lot of the time, but he does gradually progress throughout the series into a much more likable character. The female lead, Yuno, is as psychotic as they come, (I mean chop someone's head off psycho) and yet has a sweetness about her which makes her, dare I say, also likable. Much of the plot is driven by the twisted relationship between these two characters in a fight for your life battle royal between 10 other competitors to become the new god of time and space.

With all the awesomeness throughout the series, it was nice to see the ending wasn't a let down either. It did end with one minor detail of a "hole," but there was strong implication of perhaps another season or at the very least an OVA to wrap up this last little tidbit. My guess (or more like hope) is that they might expand on the part that was left out from the manga ending (which I felt was kind of too "easy" of an ending anyway).

So overall, I'll let it slide with a 10. Definitely worth rewatching, if not for the sheer enjoyment, suspense and emotional turmoil, then for all those crazy little details you may have missed leading up to the epic ending. Bravissimo!

Let me start by gushing a little bit. Monster is by far one of the best anime out there. A long and twisted, complex plot. Suspense, action, thrills, and loads of awesome characters. It is truly a work of art.

So why did I give it the 9 rating? Surely it deserves a 10?

I want to give Monster a 10. I really REALLY do. The execution is amazing. The art is unique, more realistic than the typical anime styles out there. The characters, even the ones only present for a couple episodes are developed fully and all connect to the central plot in one way or another. But...

There were too many nagging thoughts that seemed to pop up in the back of my head throughout the series, such as, 'that was really stupid of that character, like out of character stupid' or 'dear God will they stop dragging their feet and continue the plot already?' or even, 'how necessary is this guy? They've already got like a 100 characters running to and fro.' Yes, I'm being nit-picky, but you get my drift. And as much as I enjoyed the ride, I can not see myself ever going back to rewatch it like I can with so many other shows.

Regardless, even if you can't stand long, convoluted plots Monster is still worth trying. It has a hidden gem quality about it. If it doesn't hook you by the end of the first two eps then it's probably safe to say it's not your thing. Otherwise, enjoy the crazy ride. :)

I love this series. It's episodic, meaning I can just pick a random episode, if I want and get a nice, complete story. The show itself has this peacefulness to it, and yet each story compels you to follow through to the end. I love "seeing" the different mushi and how the people are impacted by them and, of course, I love Ginko. The little glimpses into his past are always a treat, and his calming demeanor makes me want to watch him for hours.

I LOVE this anime! Why oh why was it only 12 episodes? :(

Ahem...

So Noragami, the story of a small time god named Yato, who doesn't even have a shrine, who wants to become a well known god, loved and known by all. Yato is an amazing MC, and a good example of not judging a book by it's cover. Despite his cool guy design, he's quite the comedic bastard. Much like the course of the plot, he's got his happy fun times, and his super serious times (and anything super serious in the show will give you chills).

I could sit here and write about all the MCs and characters in general, but I'd be here all night, so I'll just leave it at they were all pretty likeable for me, even Yukine, despite certain moments. Others may flat out argue how much they hate(d) Yukine in the beginning, but I liked his little story arc, not to mention his general sass.

The plot itself is a nice balance of action and character driven. Yato has his goal to be a famous god and he's faced with many challenges along the way, but I love the little tidbits of Yato's beliefs and his past that get revealed throughout. Yukine is another character we see this with, though his attitude can be a little grating at times.

A couple problems I did have:
- There's a nice balance between comedy and seriousness for the most part, although a few of the earlier episodes I found a little too silly at points and detracted from the episode.
- There's a monster of the week vibe which does diminish as the series progresses, but it was noticeable enough to detract from the underlying plot in earlier eps.
- Yato's facial expressions are hilarious, but sometimes the art style switches so dramatically for them that I found it a little distracting.

Overall, great anime. Can't wait for the second season. If I'm being honest, it was more of an 8/10, but I'm giving it a 9 in part because of my stupid fangirling over Yato. Not too many character's have that level of impact on me.

I really didn't expect much going into this. As usual, the internet hype made me skeptical, but here I am, loving this series. One Punch takes an overpowered hero and makes him not so typical. Saitama's often lackluster personality is not only funny, but sometimes creates a tension that shouldn't even be there. One of my favorite aspects of this series is how it addresses what a hero really is. Yes, there are corny parts, and downright weirdness, but it's a solid series and one worth watching.

Saitama has taken a back seat this season, becoming more of a side character, which I think works. Instead of being inundated with the same big monster after big monster and watching Saitama bust through them like tissue paper (which let's face it, gets old) we now get a closer look at the side characters and how Saitama impacts these people. There's also a glimpse of attempted personal growth on Saitama's part, but whether he takes it and runs with it is yet to be seen. I rather enjoyed this different approach, as it allows the story to move forward and allows the viewer to still feel that sense of uncertainty because instead of waiting to see if Saitama fails (which we know he won't) we instead get to worry about whether or not Saitama will happen to show up before someone else gets killed. We also get a deeper look at a number of side characters, which I always find fun.

If I was going to fault anything about this is that it made me feel so much my heart ached by the end, but I can't really fault it for doing its job so well, now can I? *breaths* That was amazing.

When I first stumbled across this I laughed so loud I figured anyone walking by probably thought I was insane. That pretty much says it all.

I enjoyed this a lot. Don't let the title fool you. It's a unique take on the magical girl trope, reading like a fun fairytale but with darker elements seeping through the further you watch. I was definitely binge-watching episodes when I had the time to.

There is some corniness. There was a reason for this, but it still felt to be a little much at times. The ending is bittersweet, and I would have liked to see just the slightest bit more afterwards at the end, even if it was just in the form of still shots during the ending theme song.

Overall, greatly recommend watching. 8/10

Beautiful artwork and a nice lead in with episode one, but I found myself growing slowly aggravated with Rideback as the series progressed. I can't really give specifics without spoiling things, but basically it started out leading me to believe it would be one plot then seemed to switch into another, only to come back to its original theme. The pacing was slow at times, which isn't always a problem, but in this case I found it annoying because I never really felt the build up to the dramatic points. It was more talk, talk, conversation, news says people are angry, and then bam! Drama! And IMO, one of the most dramatic points only happened because the character was, sorry to say, being stupid. I've never felt such an odd combination of sadness and annoyance before. Other characters were so underdeveloped that they could have been removed all together without affecting the story.

Good points, you ask? Well, I did mention the artwork is beautiful, and using political conflict to explore Rin's internal conflict over dancing was an interesting approach. The action scenes, when present, were wonderful and seeing Rin on her Rideback, Fuego, really was breathtaking. The emotions exhibited by Rin and other characters were also executed in, for the most part, a very believable manner.

Rideback is not a bad anime. It has plenty of good points going for it. It just wasn't anything exceptional for me.

Samurai 7 is an excellent combination of action, engaging characters, sword fighting, and even a little mecha flavoring. Set in a futuristic world, a group of farmers seek out samurai to save their homes from bandits. The seven samurai they find are all very unique individuals with varied backstories, and it's interesting seeing them all come together in this fight to protect these villagers.

While for the most part I enjoy the character designs, some are little too much. For example, the imperialists and their guards dress like clowns. Most of them are creepy to look at and listen to, so the makeup and funky clothing just brings them to a pedophile rally level of creepiness. And some of the characters, usually older men, have the most deformed designs, and I mean that they look extremely deformed and sickly. One of the farmers/villagers actually has purple lips and a bulbous head that makes him look like he was imported in from area 51. Ew.

The animation quality seesaws as well. One moment the art is crisp and clean, the next it's all over the place and jumpy. This may have been an attempt to replicate the hectic feel of a battle, since I noticed the majority of the time this occurred during fight scenes. Still, it did end up distracting at times.

While there is a diverse cast of main characters, the series play favorites on their development. It's obvious that the youngest samurai, Katsushiro is the main focus for the writers in the department of character growth. It's not a bad thing, per say, but it left me wanting more from the other characters as well. That said, Katsushiro's portrayal from beginning to end was phenomenal. His growth from a novice, naive warrior into a full fledged samurai was paced perfectly and really delved into Katsu's struggles.

Overall, I'm giving Samurai 7 an 8/10.

Really just a half recap half continuation of the series. Still love the characters and this made me feel sad thinking about the struggles Chihiro and Rea will face.

Picked this up after running across a rather gruesome anime image in a Google search. After warranting a WTF? response from me, I traced it back to School Days.

School Days starts out as a typical romance story... kind of boring in my opinion, then begins the train wreck in progress. The main guy, Makoto, is the biggest perverted idiot I've ever seen. Really, he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. And most of the others characters are equally infuriating. Honestly, I've never seen such a horny group of back stabbing characters. The intrigue of that picture I found is what kept me plowing through it.

In the end, it was... okay... Once you make it past the first six eps, you'll be more inclined to finish it. Yes, it's a long first half, but it eventually ties together as the drama snowballs. The ending was unfortunately not as epic as I had hoped, but borderline satisfying.

I watched a good chunk of this a long time ago when I was... well, younger, and remembered liking it a lot. Never had the chance to see it completely through and fifteen or so years later finally sat down to watch the entire thing. Despite it's dated appearance (and really, just awful art work at times), this show is a lot of fun.

When you look at the plot and characters, there's really nothing special about it. The characters are flat out stereotypes and there's nothing too dramatic going on, but this show is such a grab bag of different, scifi goodness and action you can't help but enjoy yourself from beginning to end. Not the most complex or mind provoking anime out there, but certainly entertaining.

A pretty lackluster show that can't decide if it wants to be a more episodic slice of life series or an actual fantasy/adventure plot. It could have been a lot better if they skipped the filler junk and spent the full 12 episodes developing the plot instead of rushing through it in about 4 episodes. A lot of this plot also relies on our main character doing some lengthy monologuing (er, shouting) to explain everything, and stomping all over the basic writing rule of "show don't tell."

There's also a lot of poorly placed humor and attempts at fan service. Cecily's armor, for example, is a bad joke. I've never seen a breast plate so perfectly shaped like the woman's breasts. Oh yeah, and she doesn't wear anything underneath it, so if it breaks, and it does... Really?!

Our heroine, Cecily, while I give her credit for her determination and bravery, often leads me to question how anyone like her could be given the title of "knight." As it stands, it seems the only reason she was granted the title of "knight" is because both her grandfather and father were leaders of the group before they died. It has the "my daddy got me this job" vibe all over it. She does grow a bit throughout the series, but more often than not her butt is saved by the male lead, Luke. In this anime's defense, the point of the series is more about the parallels of her relationship with Luke and his past, but it could have been executed so much better if the series focused on it from start to finish rather than throw it in at the last minute. And while I'm bringing up Luke...

Luke can be cool. He's a blacksmith with exceptional skills in both smithing and sword fighting, but he's mostly grumpy, easily bothered, and can be a flat out jerk. There's no denying he has some secrets and there is a kindness beneath his cold outer layers, but you rarely see it with the exception of the occasional kind gestures he extends to his assistant, Lisa, and the fact that he has yet to let Cecily die. This could have been very interesting to explore, but again we really don't learn anything until the very end, where we get bombarded in a three episode time frame of what these secrets are and finally get more of an understanding of him. And when I say bombarded, I mean they are literally thrown at you, mostly in monologues that drone out of Cecily's mouth when she puts two and two together.

But at least there's a conclusion, right? No, not really... I admit, the ending did have a nicely rounded out completed feel to it, but there was so much left open it was ridiculous. To avoid what little plot spoilers there are, I will avoid going into detail on these, but basically, certain things that seemed to be main plot points were deviated away from and never resolved. The original plan may have had a second season in the works, but based on the execution of this one, I doubt we'll be getting any kind of full conclusion.

I feel like I need to watch this a few times to properly evaluate it. There's a lot to sort through. For now, I'll give it an 8.

Starts off with an interesting premise, but starts to fall short as it bounces between love drama and paranormal type battles that were underwhelming sometimes. 14 episodes in and I was still not sure exactly where the plot was going. That's not to say Shana was bad. It had a lot of good points and seeing Shana struggle with feelings she didn't understand had a more realistic quality to it, even if it sometimes got me impatient. Still an enjoyable watch, just felt a little stretched out at times.

So, season 2 was an overall okay watch. It did start off as a let down, but by the end of the season it had managed to redeem itself. The first seven episodes are slow, and decide to trade in the action side of the series for full on romance drama garbage and a new character that I wanted to destroy. Later on, some of this does prove to have significance, but it didn't make the first half of the season any less annoying.

Ahem... fortunately, things finally start to pick back up at episode 8, but even then the pace can be grating. By the last third of the series we move back into full swing with the same action packed plotting from season one, maybe even better. Yuji and Shana's character growth is also a wonderful thing to see and i was quite pleased with how both characters turned out at the end.

I would have rated this a 7 or 8 if the first half of the series didn't feel like such a chore to watch, but the end of the season didn't disappoint. 6/10 overall.

This season dumps the slice of life stuff from the previous two seasons on its head and just has everything explode in your face from episode one. Not what I expected to happen, but damn sure glad it did.

It's extremely important to pay attention this season, maybe even re-watch certain parts, or else you run the risk of finding yourself lost and confused. There is a lot going on and a lot of thought put into the plot, but there's also a level of vagueness that drags throughout much of the season that may or may not drive you crazy. I was pleased when it all eventually came together, but getting there was frustrating at times.

Where things sort of "fell apart" for me was with the masses of new characters introduced this season, who despite serving a purpose, didn't always feel like it. There was a lot crammed into this season, so it's understandable some characters don't get the full TLC they deserve for the sake of time constraints, but sometimes it felt like characters were thrown in there for the sake of showing off another battle. I'm not really sure how to explain it, just that there was a disconnect at times and I had to remind myself what the point of someone or something was.

In a nutshell, patience is a virtue with this season. Don't expect the slice of life stuff from previous seasons. This is about a war and the love between two individuals, after all, and neither are known to be simple and straight forward. In that sense, Shana has done a beautiful job showing that.

Shangri-La is a good series with a lot of potential to be a masterpiece, but it is the classic case of trying to do too much in too little time. There are so many plots, subplots, characters and tangents, that it's easy to get lost and/or confused, especially during the information dump episodes which occur here and there right up until the end. There's A LOT to absorb.

That said, these same "problems" are what makes Shangri-La so engaging. With some added length at the very end and/or overall fine tuning with pacing this could have easily been worthy of a 9 or even 10. You may have to watch it a couple times to really sink into and reflect on the information you're presented with, but in the end you'll find yourself with a worthwhile series.

A nice spin on the whole vampire genre, Shiki can be quite suspenseful and downright creepy. Halfway through and the over-abundance of death of characters across the spectrum gets depressing and leaves you wondering if there is any light to be found at the end of the tunnel.

The artwork is different, though very clean and beautiful to look at. The eyes of the characters are especially captivating.

Shiki really digs into the issue of what is good and what is evil and explores the darkness of humanity and perhaps even life itself. It also gets pretty gory, so make sure you've got something a little more cheerful to watch once you finish it. You'll most likely need it.

I rated this 9 while taking into account the rest of the series. If you haven't watched Shiki in it's entirety you'll probably be a little confused over what's going on, although you can pretty much piece the basics together.

That said, these are two very powerful episodes and really break down human nature into it's most raw form. The focus is more on certain background characters and the village in it's entirety as it deals with the Shiki outbreak. I was horrified, I was sad, I was flat out blown away by the power behind these two episodes.

This show has gotten a lot of hype, and all I can say after seeing it is, "holy crap, that was awesome!"

Right off the bat, episode one will blow you away, not only with the premise, but the action, emotion, and horror all wrapped up into one eye popping package.

The plot is pretty straight forward. Humanity is majorly screwed due to a bunch of giant man eating monsters, so how they gonna win back the world? There are some little tidbits of mystery thrown in here and there, but nothing ever gets very deep. In a way the plot itself is humanity in raw form, only instead of fighting one another (not that they still don't do that) they're fighting Titans.

Anyway, straightforwardness aside, it's the execution that really makes this anime shine. First off, the sound track is orgasmic. 'nough said. Second, the artwork and action scenes are top notch. Every time I see the characters using their 3D maneuvering gear and zipping through the air I get chills. Just watch the first OP and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm jealous that someone could create animation like that. Thirdly, YOU... NEVER... KNOW... WHO'S... NEXT! Oh, I really like that character! Shit! He's dead! Aww, she's so sweet! Crap! Titan nommed her! Now there's no way they'd kill this guy off any time s- FUCK!

I'm afraid for the lives of who's left. I truly am, especially for my favs.

So now why not a perfect 10, you're probably wondering. I actually feel a little guilty not giving this a 10, but I scaled it back for three main reasons:

(1) This is only part of the story, so I can't really call half a story a masterpiece until I see the entire thing. If this was the whole enchilada, then the number of questions left unanswered and the inconclusiveness would have dumped this into a much lower scoring bracket, but I have high hopes that this baby will get a concluding season in the future, so for now... to be continued.

(2) Still scenes. I've seen theories for SnK's use of still scenes ranging from time constraints to laziness. Whatever, I get it. If used well, still scenes don't bother me. Most of the stills used in SnK didn't bother me, but there were a few that... ehh. There's one in particular that really stood out to me, though. I believe everyone was heading down a stairwell, and I swear it felt like it lasted five minutes.

(3) I sometimes felt the drama was overplayed. Now don't get me wrong. Giant man eating monsters, people getting slaughtered left and right, and a lot of other bat shit crazy stuff, certainly calls for drama: screaming, crying, difficult decisions, you name it. And for the most part, it was realistically executed and fine tuned for each character and holy crap the emotions you feel as a viewer! Buuuuut, sometimes the dramatic monologuing was a little too long, and sometimes the focus on someone's inner turmoil was dragged out a bit. This left for some slower spots, specifically in the middle of the series. Yeah, I'm being nit-picky.

Sooo, final conclusion, I was teetering between 8 and 9, and first settled on a 9 just because this anime was so enjoyable and in the end, and that's what matters most to me. I'm also expecting (hoping for) an epic ending with another season, so I can forgive the inconclusiveness for now. Buuuuut, after a second viewing and loosing a lot of the shock impact from the first viewing, I'm starting to think I should go with my original feeling of an 8. I will do a final consensus once I see the second season.

Hyping aside, Shigeki no Kyojin deserves a chance, so if you're doubting it because you think it's going to be over rated, well, maybe it is, but what isn't? As far as hype goes, this anime does a damn good job of meeting expectations.

Music is awesome as always. My affections for little ol' Connie are growing. Some more answers this season, so it was a little more dialogue heavy, which I didn't mind. The episodes still seemed to fly by. What I did mind was Eren's big mouth. God, someone shut him up. The shouting in this series gets to me sometimes, but overall very good. I think this series operates best if you marathon it. Waiting a week at a time to watch an episode kinda kills the fire. Can't wait for season 3.

I binge watched this second half and am so happy I did. The action, drama, cliff hangers, and info reveals would have made waiting one week at a time too unbearable. I appreciate the direction this show is taking with the secret behind the titans finally revealed and the "real" challenges facing Eren and the others brought to light. I'm still not sure how this is going to end, but I can't wait to see it.

Being that this is just a recap ep I didn't bother rating it. The entire ep is recycled footage and narrative. There is nothing new about it. Many recap eps usually show a character reminiscing while going through his daily routine or whatever, but SnK plays it off more like it was part of the dream Eren had at the very beginning of episode one. An interesting way to approach it, since Eren's dreams tend to reflect both his past and future (like a premonition though he never really gets it).

Overall, this ep serves no real purpose unless you really feel you need a refresher on the first half of the series, but unless you took a long break after episode 13, I doubt you need it. On the plus side, you get to see some of the really cool scenes replay all over again.

A unique series that makes you think. I really enjoyed the psychological aspect of it. I did feel a few parts of the story lagged at times, and yet, I feel like the ending could have had a little more to it.

Soooo, NOT a fan of ecchi stuff. Not exactly surprising since I'm a girl, but every now and then I will subject myself to it in favor of the additional comedy (Hen Zemi) or action (HSOTD) that accompanies it. In the case of Sora no Otoshimono, it would be the former.

There are some HILARIOUS moments in this anime, usually brought about by Tomoki's over the top pervertedness, but funny none the less. Of course, it's the same pervertedness that leads to some awkward situations and images that I would have gotten along fine without ever seeing. In between the ecchi awkwardness, though, there is a decent storyline, one that keeps your interest and leaves you rooting for Ikaros in her attempt to overcome her past and forever stay with Tomoki. I'm also especially fond of Sugata, who's strange behaviors, yet cool, calm demeanor never failed to perk my interest.

Overall, I can't give this anime a super high score because I think it sometimes relies too much on ecchi humor and that did distract a lot from the main plot. I also found Tomoki's perverted nature, despite being fodder for some exceptionally funny moments, to be REALLY annoying. He also goes into chibi mode more often than he's normal. Again, very distracting. However, the remaining cast of characters are all very likeable, and I give this show credit for the laughs it delivers and the underlying story. The ending especially was very nice and conclusive, while leaving it open for a second season (which I admittedly would put my discomfort aside to watch).

Hmmm... so 7/10... I tried my best to rate this considering the genre and not my personal taste. I will say, if you like that kind of stuff, this is a definite anime to check out. And if you're not into boobs, panties and awkward innuendos, it's really a toss up. Sora no Otoshimono does have a lot of good things going for it, so if you can overlook those awkward points then I'd say it's worth checking out even if just for the laughs.

Not much more to say about this than what I already said in my comments about the first season. I was going to drop the rating down one point from a 7 to a 6 originally because Tomoki's horrible habits made me want to beat the crap out of him as much as Sohara did, however, as I stated with the series, there is a plot beneath the crudeness that I really like, and yes... it still managed to make me laugh.

As a continuation of the series, a chunk of this OVA focuses on Nymph's newly found freedom from her master and her need to be given direction. She has lost her purpose, despite how cruel it had been, and doesn't know what to do with herself anymore. It's actually very sad and touching that she's so distraught, especially considering her tsundere attitude in the first season. And despite being a full blown idiot, Tomoki does manage to also remind you that he is a decent human being (you know, once you look past the sex offender dot he should probably have placed over his house).

So, yeah, I'll keep my rating on par with the whole series and give it a 7/10. This OVA is more a continuation of the first 13 eps anyway and the ending was nicely conclusive making it potentially the true ending for season 1.

When you first dive into Soul Eater, perhaps the most notable feature of the series is the unique artwork and style used. It gives the anime this macabre feel (that suits the plot well) and yet alos has the ability to be goofy and fun.

The second thing that grabbed me were the characters. Our main cast includes Maka and Soul, who have one of those strong bonds that just pulls you in. And I don't mean a romantic bond (not that I would complain) but a solid friendship where they really care about and rely on one another. You want to know more about what makes them tick as individuals as well as how they became close and where that bond will lead them. This makes things especially intriguing if something bad happens to one and you are left to question what problems may result further down the road.

The remaining MC carry on that intrigue with their own personality quirks that helps round them out as individuals you can care about. Death the Kid, for example, is generally calm and collected, a leader figure no doubt, at least until his abnormal obsession with symmetry kicks in. It's quite amusing to see someone go from badass fighter to bawling idiot in 2 seconds flat because of a crooked painting.

There was definitely a lot of potential for character growth and development all around, and coming into Soul Eater, I was certain (and happy) that's where it would be leading me. Each of the three main teams got their own opening episode for crying out loud! But then... things started to detour...

The series starts out with the premise set of Maka and Soul trying to collect the souls of 99 evil humans and 1 witch soul so that Soul could become a death scythe. Okay, cool. Then stuff happens... okay, cool. Detour. Detour. Now suddenly it's a mad scramble to save the world and any character build up that occurred in the first 12 or so episodes kind of just gets peppered in between this new plot.

Now I'm not saying the plot was bad. Parts of it were very good, and in the end we do get to revisit some earlier presented problems. There was even a very nice ep that revisited Maka and Soul's bond. However, it was almost like these more interesting tidbits took a backseat to this new save the world plot and an ending that had too many anti-climatic and sometimes flat out stupid parts thrown into it. In fact, the final episode had my eye twitching in disbelief.

I've read that the anime has taken the liberty of detouring from the original storyline. Not really a surprise, so I'm hoping I may find more of the depth I was looking for in the manga. But as it stands, I'm giving anime Soul Eater a 8/10. I thought about giving it a 7 based on plot execution, but it was a fun watch and well above average. Certainly worth looking into for it's unique art style and fun characters.

Based on comments I've read, it seems a lot of people loved Space Dandy right from the get go. For me, though, Space Dandy is the type of show that grows on you slowly.

The very first episode left me unimpressed. I can be picky when it comes to comedy and ep 1 was hit and miss for me. It even seemed… well, stupid. Disappointing since it had quite the amazing display when it came to the animation. (I give the artists credit for the amazing world they've created for Dandy to cruise around.) However, Dandy is an episodic anime, with a different story each ep. Often times, an episode will end where everyone should be dead, but next ep things go back to normal. It keeps things interesting to say the least and it has managed to warrant some laughs. Yes, there's some fan service, and our MC, Dandy, is a dope at times, but he has a charm that pulls you in. And so, with each episode I slowly grew to not love, but at least like the woman loving alien hunter to the point where I looked forward to each new episode out of sheer curiosity over what kind of mess he would get himself into.

If Dandy doesn't pull you in episode one, I would recommend watching at least the first five episodes before throwing in the towel. If Dandy hasn't grown on you by then, then he probably never will.

I gotta hand it to Dandy, the guy's difficult if not impossible for me to dislike.

Like season one, season two continues with the episodic set up with a variety of different plots: some serious, some over the top insane, and everything in between. Explanation is actually offered for this variation which I thought was clever, but I won't go into that here. If you watch you'll figure it out pretty easily.

Not every episode suits my taste, but the ones that do I enjoy thoroughly and not knowing what to expect from one episode to the next keeps me coming back. Artwork is just as wild and beautiful as season one, though slight stylistic variations from one episode to the next, like the plot, can sometimes effect my overall takeaway from the episode in a negative light.

Overall, I stand by my original conclusion that Space Dandy deserves a try by even the biggest skeptics. Give the alien hunter four or five episodes to win you over. He's really good at doing that.

I really did enjoy this anime. My only complaint was with the way it ended. Nothing was ever really answered and it was left way open.

I don't like to drop shows, but Starry Sky made it difficult to push on. It's not really a show, rather shorts on each character, most of which don't really go anywhere of have much substance to them. The played up drama is the biggest joke ever. The only thing keeping me from giving it a 1 is the Aquarius arc and maybe one or two others. They were still bad, but a guilty pleasure at least.
Unless you're really into staring at pretty guys and constant sappy stories (or a fan of the video games) don't waste your time with this (I wish I hadn't).

Cute anime. Nothing over the top, just straight forward building of a relationship between two people, one of whom is extremely anti-social and has to "come out of her shell," if you will. Interestingly enough, there is a lot of focus on some of the side characters to the point where it actually pulls you away from the MCs to focus on these other stories.

The anime cuts out a lot from the manga but not in a way that impedes the story too much. Yeah, there are some details that I would have preferred left in but overall, I think the cutting out and rearranging a lot of the story actually made it better. The manga I found a little boring at times, where as the anime cuts to the chase without feeling rushed (well, maybe just a little rushed; there are a couple spots that felt like you missed something).

The ending leaves us off at an appropriate spot (though ep 12 would have been better), but is inconclusive over the fate of our main couple (though we can probably guess with high accuracy). I wouldn't mind a second season to continue everything.

Overall, cute and sweet, but nothing I'd write home about. Great for the romance fanatic or anyone looking for that warm fuzzy feeling (which I was when I watched it XD).

An impressive movie, that shines brightest with its characterization. Not only do well get a feel of each personality, quirks and all, from main characters down to minor, but their designs are distinct, ranging across all shapes and sizes. Pacing is done well and the plot carried off in a "believable" manner. An entertaining movie for sure, and one that could be enjoyed by the whole family.

Need to rewatch this and revise my rating. It's been awhile, and I'm drawing a blank on more overall impression of it.

I liked Sword Art Online to an extent, but I just can't find the LOVE that some people seem to have for it. I like the premise, thousands of people trapped in an online game, literally playing for their lives as they try to clear 100 levels. I like our main man, Kirito, to an extent, and many of the side characters were likable, even the ones that only appear for one episode or two.

My problem with SAO begins with its pacing issues and ends with its overall lack of oomph.

Perhaps it's because the story has so many large gaps in the timeline. One episode the players have managed to clear the 20th level, the next episode they're already up to level 59. Now, I understand showing all 100 levels would be a ridiculous feat and would likely burn out the series before it got anywhere close to a conclusion, but the transitions often feel very cut and paste. Instead of making the story arcs last only two sometimes even one episode, a little more time and love should have been invested in these short stories. Maybe then the series itself would feel more unified instead of... choppy? The second half of the series does improve on this choppiness, but it still lacks fluidity and it turns into more of a damsel in distress plot with a number of episodes that were not really necessary.

Adding to this choppy plot, is an oddly handled relationship between the two MCs. While the impending love is obvious and boasts quite a few touching moments, it felt very forced in the beginning. We have two characters who meet once, don't see each other for a long time, then they're suddenly back together again and there is little development between the two before they start pledging their lives to one another and becoming an "official" item. Again, I'm blaming this on the overall choppiness of the plot. It's hard to properly develop a romance when the story itself can't back it properly. On the plus side, once that relationship had been established, the dedication the two have for one another was very heart warming.

Now, the characters I mentioned were likable, though not always memorable. This is due to lack of screen time and overall use as place fillers and occasional cannon fodder. The main characters, Kirito and Asuna, start out as promising individuals, but as with the plot, the build up of their characters doesn't always flow right. Asuna, begins as an independent strong woman, but sometimes falls back into the dependent, damsel role which can be frustrating. Kirito is your typical cool, independent martyr who is kind of a Gary Stu at times, until he gets a little more fleshing out in the second half. Even then, however, his background is dumped on us in one episode and not really revisited until the end.

Now, don't get me wrong, I liked both MCs. Even when she switches to damsel role, Asuna reminds us on occasion that she's not stupid nor helpless. And one thing I will say about Kirito, is that the guy does feel deep, and it's refreshing to see a male character who can cry. His dedication is very endearing. And when Leafa shows up second half, well, I have nothing bad to say about her. In fact, I think she's probably the best paced character out of everyone.

Some other nice points about SAO... The artwork is a notable plus. When they do occur, there are some nicely animated fight scenes. And the ending wraps things up nicely, albeit a little rushed compared to the odd pacing of everything else. I can certainly understand why Asuna and Kirito are a favorite anime couple.

I don't know. Usually I eat this kind of anime up, but the plot and pacing needs some major fine tuning. Still an okay watch, just not anything spectacular for me. :/ For now I'm going to rate it a 6. I did watch this over an extended period of time so maybe I will revisit it one day to give it a second chance.

It was okay... If I was the type to drop things easily, I'd at least follow it through to the end. However, okay was all it was. The fact that I can't remember much about the plot proves it's lackluster affect on the viewer.

Right off the bat this show struck me as a bad joke or rather an insult to the Tenchi Muyo series. It actually doesn't even focus on Tenchi. Rather, it follows an annoying little dweeb named Sena whose luck is so ridiculously bad, that it causes trouble for other people as well as himself. Based on his luck he should logically be dead already, although his corpse would probably cause the universe to implode. To make matters stranger, every female character wants him. I get it's a harem type anime, but come on now. And don't even get me started on the bulls*** ending.

Plotwise, every time a plot starts to develop it's either ended in an abrupt manner or quickly dismissed in favor of poor humor or sexual innuendoes. When a conflict is solved, it's usually because of some coincidental advantage suddenly made available to the characters. There is little to no build up for these resolutions.

*Spoiler Example*

Sena could be trying to rescue someone only to crash on a planet where he's revered as a hero and happens to be presented with a giant mecha that he can suddenly control and use to save the day. (No seriously, that was over the span of one ep. Not 5 or 6 episodes, just ONE EP!).

*End spoiler*

Other than warranting a very rare chuckle or two, the series has provided me with as much entertainment value as drying paint. The show tries way too hard to be funny and constantly goes off on tangents for the sake of putting Sena in embarrassing situations. Each episode seemed to go on forever, and I'm pretty sure this series has killed off a chunk of my brain cells. For the love of anime, don't watch this.

In the beginning it feels like this series can't decide whether it wants to be an action/drama or an action/comedy. Kamina's obnoxious personality doesn't help. I really wished at times I could tell him to "shut the hell up." Simon's a saint for putting up with him. And yet, despite all of this, Kamina's over the top personality makes people gravitate to him, and that's exactly how this show sucks you in.

As time goes on, the series really starts to find itself. It's still over the top insane at times, to the point where you can't take it seriously, but the characters really start to grow on you, and I give it props for the development of the MC, Simon. The underlying message is a simple but inspiring one, and when shit hits the fan, which it tends to do often, I found myself slowly riled up with the characters like a high-schooler at a pep rally.

Overall consensus, there were bumpy moments from beginning to end for me (mostly beginning) with what felt like forced comedy, but things do come together, giving way to the mind blowing, action packed insanity only Team Gurren can bring. Bravo! The ending left me very unsettled for reasons I can't disclose without spoiling, to the point where I think it's why I had trouble sleeping the night I finished it. It's realistic and the kind of ending I think a lot of people often complain there should be more of, but it still messed me up. Overall, though, I'm happy I watched it.

I purchased the "Perfect Collection" of this anime on a whim back in 2005, and ended up having to put it on hold after only 3 eps and essentially forgot I had it. I didn't actually sit down to watch the whole thing until 8 frickin years later. I know, right? What the hell is wrong with me? With each episode I felt dumber and dumber for letting it collect dust because it's just really REALLY good.

Before I get into why this anime is so good, let me start by suggesting the original seiyuu cast over the english dub, just in case you were considering it. I'm usually not as picky about dubbing as a lot of other people, but in this case, the dub makes me cringe. The seiyuu do such a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life, that you can't fully appreciate Escaflowne any other way. That said...

Escaflowne has a nice balance of shoujo and shounen elements. Some of the male characters follow the typical bishounen design and there is an underlying romance that slowly grows throughout the series between our heroine, Hitomi, and a certain someone. At the same time, Escaflowne is no stranger to action sequences and has its fair share of sword fights, war, and plenty of sweet mecha.

Plotwise, Escaflowne steadily builds in complexity, from the implication of a simple rebuild the kingdom story to the actual grandiose tale of destiny, warring kingdoms, and the mystery surrounding MC, Van Fanelia, that it actually is. There is quite a bit to absorb, especially in the second half, and this has led to complaints from some that the writers "didn't know what they were doing." I feel this is in part due to a bulk of the plot focusing around machines that can alter destiny and wishes manifesting into reality. Based on the established universe, I didn't find any of these elements really out of place, but I can also see how it might be a lot to swallow, especially when things are happening in the bad guy's favor. And while I think the series did a good job explaining things in the 26 episodes, it would have benefitted from being a bit longer to spread out the volume of information.

Overall, one needs to go into Escaflowne with a clear and open mind. It can be easy to miss something important, especially when a lengthy explanation pops up or a lot of stuff's going down, but once you connect the dots, you'll find deep storyline interwoven with many subplots, coupled with beautiful artwork, exciting battles, and fantastical elements.

The ending almost made me drop the score to a 7. It was bittersweet, which I have no problem with, except the last five minutes was leading me to a slightly different expectation. In hindsight, the ending it well suited for the series and strongly demonstrates the growth of characters Van and Hitomi, but I still wish it had gone a little differently.

Anyway, great series. I'll let the ending slide and give it an 8/10.

This movie is just so charming. I rented it twice so that the second time I could make my family watch (they also enjoyed it, btw). The main character, Pazu, is adorable and the connection he and Sheeta share on their journey to Laputa is heartwarming.

Railgun is a nice little anime that falls into the action and sci-fi realm, but also has some slice of life undertones that helps balance it out and prevents it from being too over the top. The pacing is great, not too fast, not too slow, and the plot is broken into a number of smaller arcs that connect to one another in some way. The characters are all very likable, even Shirai and her perverse nature.

Problems start to arise about halfway through when (from what I've gathered in the forums) the anime starts to deviate from the manga. Episodes start to become more like fillers and while the anime plot ties into the original story established at the beginning, it just doesn't carry that same oomf. Fortunately, by the end, it picks back up again with decent action and does a good job tying prior pieces together.

If you've watched and enjoyed A Certain Magical Index, then Railgun is definitely a must. Heck, even if you didn't see or like Index, I'd still recommend Railgun. It has many similar elements and overlapping characters, but in a lot of respects is a horse of an entirely different color. Good stuff for sure. 7/10

The second season of the Railgun franchise and just as much fun as the first season. Mikasa is a favorite for me, and I love the immaculate focus on her character in the first half of this season. She's a strong gal ready to take the weight of the world on her shoulders if need be, but she never feels like an overpowered character. The emotions she pushes through are enough to pull at your heart strings and more importantly, they feel real. And, of course, she's always great at bringing on the action.

As with the first season, this one also adds in some slice of life within the main plot in a nice balance of action and charm. While not a huge SoL fan, I really do enjoy what Railgun brings to the table, partly because the characters are so enjoyable, but also because it doesn't feel gimmicky with over the top comedy or references like other SoL anime sometimes are.

I will say, however, despite how much I enjoyed the bulk of the series, the last 6 to 8 episodes lost some of the momentum the series usually has. It was cute, and enjoyable, but Mikasa was down played a little all for this build up to a power of friendship plot line. Not bad, but a little corny.

Overall, lots of fun, and I can only hope a third season shows up one day.

Index has some nice things going for it. We've got an interesting mix of magic, psychic powers, and divine powers all going on at once and our male lead, Touma, caught in the middle of it.

Now there are shows that have a cliche character who constantly wins, easily powers up, and/or conviently gets a break when the situation is at it's bleakest. I can safely say our main man, Touma, isn't one of those. In fact, he appears to be the opposite, getting himself almost pummeled into oblivion on more than a few occasions. Despite this, he's very determined and will not back down when it comes to helping someone. He pushes aside his own problems (and he has plenty) for the sake of others. It's rather endearing. The only problem is, it begins to get tiring seeing him end up in a hospital every few episodes.

Additionally, there is a lot of bouncing around when it comes to the plot. In the beginning a story is set up around Touma helping Index, but then by episode six we start to deviate away from her. She's still there, but she starts to feel more like a side character. Actually, by the end of the series, Index was rather annoying for me. Her existence was merely to yell at Touma or bite him on the head.

Overall, the main plot is very slow paced and deviates a lot with each arc, but I have a strong suspicion we're just gathering lots of small pieces to one big puzzle. We shall see what the second season has to offer.

In the end, I will let Index slide with a 7/10.

Was going to go with a 6, but for the short little piece of anime that it is, I really enjoyed it, so 7.

Being an OVA, this is only two parts of a much bigger story, so there isn't a whole lot of depth, though you do get a good feel of the main cast's personalities. Subara is adorable, I might add.

I'm not a huge CLAMP fan when it comes to art style, but the two stories are solid and manage to stand alone so you're not left confused if you haven't read the manga (which at the time I hadn't). A good watch, for sure.

After reading the manga I really wish a full adaptation had been done.

The MC, Kaneki, is a little wuse. While I didn't dislike Tokyo Ghoul, I would have liked it a lot more if Kaneki wasn't so annoying. His wusiness detracts from everything and makes something that should be a lot more interesting and engaging, into something frustrating and sometimes boring. Of course, it's not all bad. There are moments where Kaneki doesn't completely ruin a scene, and while I feel like things are missing, the basic premise I find intriguing. I'm more interested in a lot of the secondary characters.

The ending was both the highlight and the biggest let down of this adaptation. Basically, it just cuts off without any sense of closure. Considering at the time this was released there was no season 2 announced, it was the meanest type of cliffhanger.

In conclusion, not the worst thing I've watched, but Kaneki's bitchiness and obvious holes in the story keeps this from being anything amazing. I gave it a 6 for "fine" because that best describes my feelings throughout most of it... "meh"

On the recommendations of other people and after reading the first couple chapters myself, I think I'm going to invest in the manga for a much better, more complete story.

Tonari starts out great. We are presented with two very socially inept people, but one is childlike and extremely violent and the other is a cold study bug. Somehow, the two fall in love and need to make it work.

What's so intriguing about this anime is the idea of seeing these two individuals not only learn how to function as a couple, but how to function as people. Neither one knows anything about friendship let alone love. One is emotionally broken while the other just has no emotion. There was a lot of potential for a great story about the growth and development of these two characters...

Unfortunately...

There is little growth and development at all. Half of the series is a cycle of arguments and love confessions which becomes tedious and tiring. What character growth does exist is often told to us rather than shown. After watching a character hit and throw things without thinking twice about it, it's hard to believe him when he says he's been restraining himself.

The ending picks things up again, but unfortunately made me feel like I was tuning into the beginning again. There were so many open ends, and both characters are still light years away from reaching any sort of functioning relationship. A second season would have so much potential with this 13 ep set up it got, but I'm under the impression it's not likely to happen. For now I will have to seek out the manga for the conclusion I'm looking for.

Overall, fun and entertaining with likable characters, but the slow progression and non-conclusive conclusion really hurt this series.

Vampires and the Vatican... dun dun duuuunnnn This started out so good: great plot, fun characters, some kickass action scenes, and, and, and THEN... the ending went and really let me down... it could have gone so much further. In fact I thought it would. The ending implied a possible second season, demanded it. Le sigh.

Wasn't sure why I started this anime. At first it didn't seem like my cup of tea: I thought it was going to be just a bunch of guys fishing, nothing special, but it turned out to be so much more. First of all, the character development is amazing; you can see each character gradually change and grow throughout the series (and for 12 eps that's awesome!).

The anime starts out very light hearted but by the end becomes very serious and honestly, I wouldn't have thought fishing could get so exciting. Of course, throwing aliens into the mix helps with that.

Overall, an enjoyable watch.

For what it is, this really is a beautiful piece of animation. Yes, the art is simple line drawings, but there's fluidity and purpose to each line. There is no question of the amount of effort, time and skill that went into it. Color in minimal, only used as an accent which helps to really draw your eye to important parts and characters.

The story itself is also simple, the idea of a forbidden love and overcoming bigotry and oppression for that sake of that love. But even in it's simplicity "There She Is!!" hits hard with it's message. There is no need for words. The images and actions of the characters clearly speak for themselves, projecting personalities and opinions as clearly as if you'd just watched full blown tv series (even going so far as to doing a better job than many of them).

This is truly an inspirational little piece of film, worth every minute you give it.

A magical girl type anime with a different spin. There's no fighting monsters, demons, or other assorted evil beings. The anime has a more slice-of-life feel and on a deeper level focuses on a young girl growing up and learning who she is. From the beginning you can tell there are secrets being withheld from the main character, so you're left guessing until the last few episodes. And the ending twist is much darker than you would initially guess. Certainly worth checking out, though if you're a strict action junkie, this may bore you.

A little OVA to further conclude the Uta Kata anime. Really it just shows you what happened to the characters and gives one last bittersweet ending. It was okay, though a little unnecessary as far as the main story goes. Still, it was nice to see a little extra closure.

A post-apocolyptic type setting where wolves (long thought extinct) can hide amongst society under the illusion of appearing human. Four wolves form their own pack and attempt to find Paradise in a dying world. Disregarding the fact that I love wolves... the wolves were awesome!!! Really, most of the characters were amazing, wolf and human alike... (*cough* hate *cough* Cheza *cough*). The wolves journey and overall storyline was pretty solid, though the ending was a little unfulfilling.

I don't think it's fair to rate this separate from the OVA, because this ends with little conclusion. the OVA, while not exactly what I was hoping for, did give a better "ending" to the series.