Year 2008 started with two failed months, continued strong, but by the end lost a lot of appeal for me. There is not a single full 10/10 masterpiece (although technically Dies irae reworked version may be counted), but the overall number of masterpieces is again 20, exactly the same as in 2007, so can't complain here. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2008 with songs.
My list of masterpieces in 2008:
11eyes -Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shoujo-
12Riven -The Ψcliminal of Integral-
428 ~Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de~
Aion Garden
Aoishiro
Bifronte ~Kugaitou Kitan~
Chrono Belt ~Ayakashibito & Bullet Butlers Crossover Disc~
Concerto Note
Eien no Owari ni
G-senjou no Maou
Gouen no Soleil -Chaos Region-
Kagerou Touryuuki
Kara no Shoujo
Nidaime wa ☆ Mahou Shoujo
Princess Frontier
Rui wa Tomo o Yobu
Sora o Tobu, 3tsu no Houhou
Sumaga
Tri☆Stars
Volume 7
A number that becomes magical for each year. Wanted to catch up with micchi blog that started monthly overviews in late 2008, and I'm finally there. As for VN of the Year, i'd nominate 12Riven -The Ψcliminal of Integral- .
Covered three years in visual novels over these eight months, but now I'm taking a month or so break from new posts - will rest, update old posts with newly added works and fulfill a number of youtube requests to add leftover routes. See you somewhere in October. But last post before the short break will be extra review for the year 2008, of course. Traditionally, adding here untranslated masterpiece games that I did not pick up for review throughout the year, and if five slots aren't filled, getting some curious non-masterpieces in addition. Let's choose an EXTRA review for 2008 in this poll:
Concerto Note
Sin Kurotoki Iro no Shoujo
Sora o Tobu, 3tsu no Houhou
Sumaga
Wizard Girl Ambitious
After each my hiatus blog composition changes. This does not really need to be true, but something always happens that forces me to do it. Last time my youtube channel got deleted. This time I'm forced to drop ambition in the basis of this blog to provide descriptions for as many obscure visual novels as possible.
What changes this time is that I will no longer write any descriptions for doujins and nukige with nsfw covers, will not update recently added visual novels for previous years and will not update vndb pages myself with those few leftover descriptions for non-doujin sfw covers visual novels.
The reason is stated by me in this thread . You can say hi or vote there yourself. Finishing filling in youtube requests, so will return to updating this blog very soon in cut format.
Foreword: Cotton Soft chunige are always welcome by me.
Synopsis:
There used to be a group of friends. They really trusted each other and their relationship never seemed to end. However, they gradually split up as time passed. Seven years later, Subaru now enjoys his school life with his friends and classmates. But when his old friends appear in front of him, his old memories come back...
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8Tvl8lGdGmpP2hldkNAWbe
Character Design rating: 8/10 Protagonist rating: 8/10 Story rating: 9/10 Game quality: 10/10 Overall rating: 9/10
It took me a lot of time to settle with the score. I evaluated Reconquista as 8/10, so had to compare these two games narrowly. Reconquista has its charm, but Amber Quartz is more mature almost in every field. Thus the result. The two games both focus on memory restoration in a non-trivial story while handing battles in the process, but approach is totally different as mystery tilt is exchanged for traditional chunige elements. Reconquista is also mentioned directly during history lesson about crusades. But need to explain Amber Quatz conception before further speculation.
Premise is not too difficult. Game starts with Nayuta confessing to protagonist Subaru, and he he invites the girl to become friends to know each other better. And all the first chapter is full of gags as Nayuta roleplays Subaru's future wife. But very soon shrine maiden Miyako appears and kills a dear person to Subaru. And that dear person becomes a puddle of goo who was actually a monster. Soon protagonist discovers his own power after being cornered by one of such monsters. From this time we search for strange behavior of familiar people, fight these monsters and discover memories about the rest of six childhood friends. Heroines also participate in battles which is cool. I'd say that concept is not as complex as in Reconquista, but the friendship times and lesser mysteries make up for one big mystery. On top of that we dip into history 1000 years ago just like in Air, so there is enough to look forward to.
As for downsides, there is not much I can recall. Most Japanese reviewers feel betrayed by not being warned about chunige nature of the game and thus lower scores deliberately, but it's not the point for me. Sarina route is objectively weak. Scenario is unjoined and with some nonsensical conversations especially when realizing that she is presented as ojousama. Sudden shift to SF with lasers and such also is only seen in her route. But her and Miyako routes are written by outsource writers, so it was expected. Miyako route feels so-so as well compared to the rest. Game has rather difficult structure. Game is divided into eleven chapters while there are only four heroine routes. It could be done more neatly. Protagonist is rather weak, his only reliable technique is middle range and can't be used often. So battles generally lack excitement except for some final battles. There is not much romance development. Just spending time together and then expression of mutual sympathy that leads to H scene. But for me it's rather a plus. So let's see game's strong sides.
Scenario gives a good feeling since individual routes are longer than common route, and no one of friends gets forgotten, all problems get solved. There are no useless side characters - all of them are immersed greatly in the world. I have absolutely zero complaints about production. Everything is great, and I'd only wish for bigger number of CG which are 94 or so.
I always try to ask myself what the title means. And in this case Amber Quartz is used as title just because most battles happen in the evening during sunset. It provides warm orange impression. But despite all the praise I can't call Amber Quartz a full 10/10 masterpiece, because such game must have characters and situations that burn in memory forever. And I'm not really sure I'd remember these characters in a month's time. The one thing that definitely burns in memory is recurring Tama pee theme and corresponding scene. But it is not something I'd want to remember a game forever for!
Foreword: A translated fighting focused vn, don't see significant reasons to skip it.
Synopsis:
The story takes place on a small fictional island in Japan called Rokushiki Jima (6 Ceremony/Equation Island). In this island, there is a festival held every year called the Rokushiki Sai where young girls on the island borrow the power of God and fight each other. There are 6 head families on the island, who succeeds individual fighting techniques and manages the festival tournament.
The Day-side scenario is the original part, featuring the visible side of the tournament.
The main character is Rokushiki Nanaki, who’s the new head of the Rokushiki family and the Miko arranging the tournament. She’s irritated because she can’t enter the tournament herself because of her position and tradition. She was so confident about her fighting skills that she was certain that she will win if she participated. She even beat her own parents, but that doesn’t change anything. However, her 4 friend were the participants of this year’s tournament. The girls are put into a cage surrounded by a magical barrier and with the divine power borrowed from God, fights until one loses consciousness.
The new evening side scenario features some of the other family members and the hidden bloody side of the festival.
Other than the 6 major families, the island had 4 sub-families, which were replacements in case something happens to the 6 families. And addition to that, there was a system called the Shadow Sakura Festival, where the 4 family member can challenge the head of the 6 families and can replace them by force.
Misakura Tomoe is the main character of this story. 10 years ago, she was challenged by Toritari Tsubasa, in the Shadow Sakura Festival. Everyone acknowledged Tsubasa’s strength and the battle between Tomoe was held in form of just custom. However, using dirty tactics, 7 year old Tomoe defeated Tsubasa who was 10 years older than her.
Tomoe remained to be the head of her family, but because how she fought was unfitting for the head, her skills were sealed with a magical rope wrapped around her leg by the Rokushiki Miko. Tsubasa’s sister, Toritari Kaina also despised Tomoe, and swore to defeat her in a justified battle.
10 years after that incident, a new Shadow Sakura Festival was taking place. Misakura Tomoe was challenged by all the four sub families.
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS_8fRlnxbg
Character Design rating: 6/10 Protagonist rating: 6/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 7/10 Overall rating: 7/10
There are very few Japanese reviews for this game, and just one (1) English review. And the reason for it is pretty simple - there is nothing really to write about. Initial Carnival Eve story from 2007 is very short, less than 2 hours long. It's a brutal story of mortal combat between four girls with monstrous power. Main heroine Tomoe has traditional shounen spirit as she has all relatives killed and her power is suppressed. She needs to use different strategies to beat stronger enemies and prevail despite all the odds. Cool story, bug - again - super short.
Carnival Day story is introduced to explain context of the first fight and to present a slightly different type of battle. Here reward and reasons for participation are explained. It's sub-competition, so it's much less brutal. Moreover, girls start to act as friends who care about each other. There's less strategy involved, but what's added is God powers as maidens are ritual vessels for Gods this time. But text becomes stiff and messy, and action pales in comparison with EVE.
There are enough downsides. Very few blood depictions. No voicing. Short length. Characters aren't really depicted let alone developed. CG quality is uneven. Moreover, I consider Carnival Day edition being a useless filler with so so stupid dip into moe at the end.
So, what about good sides? BGM is great, it suits the game. Fighting is generally well written. Tomoe as protagonist is quite charismatic. That's basically it. This is why it's so difficult to discuss the game. It's all about fighting. It's nice. But is there a real story? Sure, if you consider Mortal Combat to have a real story. It's possible to tie it all together and even add some everyday scenes, but we watch Mortal Combat for coolness. And Shinjisougeki Carnival has this thing all right.
Foreword: It looked like a chunige with some badass weapons. And I know that I rated previous Disabel "chunige" as 5/10...
Synopsis:
This game contains strange love stories of five couples. You can enjoy various stories of mysterious heroines at school in the country. Five stories are connected to each other and it affects your ending. The story grows deeper as it goes and becomes one grand story....
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8tOGPirOP2RDdFQNPnRpQl
Character Design rating: 7/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 6/10
Game quality: 6/10
Overall rating: 6/10
There were too many bad signs. Previous Disable chunige experience. Poster disguised as Ef series. Composer in charge of scenario. Absence of opening. Omnibus story format. And result was partly enjoyable, but not to the level of masterpiece.
Composition and story. There are five stories with different protagonists and heroines, but they happen over the same 10 days, and some characters interlap. Before the selection of four stories we watch the prologue where after some introductory scenes some Sci-Fi girl points a gun at us with intention of killing. The four following stories are basically about some guy meeting some girl who usually has transformation power of warrior of justice. Basically, these are romance stories with very little fighting action. Then finally 5th story opens up where we try to arrest a dangerous impostor from another world with two agents from the same alien world as well. And it's basically the only piece that shines here.
Game's pretty short, so let's jump to negative points at once. Text is monotonous and only becomes interesting in the final story. Answers input at the end of this True route feel unnecessary. Plot feels like deteriorated version of 11eyes with first four stories introduced to disguise lack of volume. Five different protagonists don't help to familiarize. And - seriously - what kind of professional visual novel does not have an opening nowadays?
But I picked this game mostly for cool CG of battle heroines, and I'm not disappointed with that. Character design feels old-fashioned, but good. I also liked the fact that there are exactly two H events for each heroine, bare minimum. Final route has funny enough heroines, good humor and some cool development. I don't really see much meaning in reading first four stories, but final story is pretty nice and short, so why not, really.
Foreword: A localized chunige with intriguing concept, can't miss that.
Synopsis:
When a chance encounter drops him into the middle of a war between a secret organization of superheroes and the shadow creatures known as schatten, Himehagi Aisaku must awaken the hero within if he hopes to protect all that he holds dear.
Together with the valiant princess Keziah, Aisaku will don his blazing armor and shine a light on the shadows that infest his city. But the darkness he uncovers may be deeper than anything he imagined.
Courage! Conviction! Friendship! Love! Will Aisaku find the strength to see him through the rising night?
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_8eyqu1zvK7ojhhaYm4dhc
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 6/10
Game quality: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10
There are many English reviews (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) , but all of them fail to structuralize all the game chaos and explain what this game is about. So I have to return to basics all by myself. Naturally, I can't avoid spoilers, but without it can't even show the gist of this game and will end up like any other review out there.
Trample on Schatten starts as a shounen bakage focused on kamen rider superheroes. Protagonist is attacked by a shadow and is imbued with a white ball on his palm by a doctor. This sphere both protects him from becoming a shadow himself and grants powers to fight shadows along with other Zelcraters. And after that we're given a flowchart with lots of dots to trigger events with different characters happening in reality or alternative reality at different time. There is no real purpose, no mastermind or evil organization during the mid-game, so we just get to know characters and protagonist while trying to discover superpowers based on love and fight overpowered shadows Schatten. And this is where game changes a lot. There's a lot of darkness behind heroines and protagonist past, plus all the violation IF scenes add roughness. Eventually we get prompted to enter individual sub-heroines routes that are merely excuses for H events. But when we decide to move forward with the story, sub-heroines get to die in some way or another, so each time you dump a heroine it's a death sentence. Death in Trample on Schatten is not necessarily final as there is a story mechanic to return some characters, but it's limited only to a few characters. Only by the very end of the game we enter true Keziah route , learn the mastermind identity, have a battle , and only after the battle learn about main mysteries. That's a very unexpected sequence of events.
Let's address the flaws not already mentioned. I absolutely hate flowchart mechanic as it's a lazy writer's choice to give disjointed events without proper reasoning or logic. It's a huge mess. The world is not really attractive, and there are few characters in it with the absence of charismatic enemies. Battles are directed good, but they give a cliche manga feeling with all those kamen rider kickse etc. Game system has few options, and I had to go with text appearing gradually due to lack of autoreading speed adjustments. And yet in some scenes text flies like crazy and in others moves slower than desired. There are few normal CG. Gags are either based on crazy situations or rather simplistic to my liking.
But I still call this game a masterpiece, and I'm really glad this game got localized because it broadens our horizons. It manages to keep reader's attention through this chaos. A presumably shounen bakage changes a lot during the course of the game and manages to make sense of eclectic pieces scattered around while provoking serious questions. Most of H events are optional and bearing zero meaning for the story, so don't see a point discussing them. The story itself is not really attractive and conveyed in a poor manner, but unusual character personalities and unexpected plot twists make it a worthy experience to undertake and remember.
Foreword: A nice otaku game always catches my attention.
Synopsis:
Kenjiro is lazy and has no job. One day, his mother calls him and tells that she asked his aunt to hire him at her school. However, Kenjiro is a hardcore otaku - he has no social skills to speak of, can't get along with people, and has never dated a girl... When he arrives at the school, he is shocked to find out it's an all-girls' school, and has no idea what he should do!
Luckily he meets up with Nanase, his cousin he used to play together with when they were young. She, however, suddenly says to him, "Are you still an otaku? Don't talk to me at school."
When he is down, he suddenly hears a familiar melody, a BGM from some famous game. He enters the classroom and finds a girl playing the game. She introduces herself as Asuka, and she happens to be the one and only member of the Comic Club....
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_bK0MS_DGj0C_UvdauhF91
Character Design rating: 9/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 8/10
I tend to undermine slice of life games since these games don't give me new stories. The more the importance of those ones that I can call masterpieces. And this is exactly such case.
Concept is fairly simple - an otaku becomes a temporary intern at a girls school and also an advisor to a comic club. Since it's a charage, it's natural to discuss heroines. There are five of them, but only four are geeks. The last one is our tsundere cousin Nanase. She is kind of main heroine because of her special status, but her route is the most boring one as it focuses on isolated from other members romantic relations. I was seriously disappointed by her route as there are lots of such developments in any charage. There are three authors in this game, and common route together with Nanase route are written by Hasegawa Ai, an AXL scenario writer whom I seriously dislike after Shield 9 and Like a Butler. Shinobu and Mashiro routes are written by Toki Houou who did mostly eroge, but participated in script creation for Sumikko Soft first game. Shinobu is the cutest heroine who tries to hide her otaku habits and leave a normal school life. Her route is the shortest of all and becomes a poor tennis spokon with the only bright spot is common for all heroines comiket participation. As for Mashiro, her route is quite fun, but focusing on emotions, realistic problems and worries, and thus leaves a somewhat heavy impression. The last two routes - Asuka and Shima - are written by Himenogi Aku who hosted a lot of moege/charage as a scenario writer. And his lively approach actually saves this game. Both routes are light, otaku-heavy and really fun. Incidentally, H scenes are also the most lively in the whole game. Finishing with one of these routes generally provides a better overall impression, so there is some evaluation split.
As for the flaws, can't say there are many. Protagonist is perverted and insensitive, but for a wild otaku it's a normal state. I did not like side characters, but they rarely show up. There are a lot of net and anime parodies and references that were incomprehensible without wikipedia even in 2009 due to aged material and letters omission, but those don't really obstruct experience. Of course I'd prefer a circle of friends story without individual heroine routes, but joint activities are also plentiful, so I did not feel locked up with a single heroine even in Nanase route.
I ended up praising the game even in flaws section. So let's continue with the praise. Otaku protagonist playing eroge is easy to sympathize with. Some nerd jokes were commonplace, but there was enough unique discussions. Sheldon Cooper would want to watch Shima route who is toy trains enthusiast with ability to discern them by the sounds made. But the deciding factor for me was circle of friends atmosphere. Zettai Karen! Ojou-sama does not live up to Genshiken as ultimate otaku heaven, but it is a a properly done and amusing dive into otaku atmosphere with unusual otaku heroines, and every such success counts.
Foreword: Game looks like a parody chunige with dimension shifts, so I'd like to know the story.
Synopsis:
The story takes place in the near future, when monsters frequently appear in the town. Hiromi has just moved to another school because his previous school was closed. The monsters used to be dangerous creatures before, but they are now like crows or stray dogs thanks to high-quality monster exterminators. But one day, Hiromi is suddenly attacked by a monster when he meets Kiku, who has just come to the town from deep inside the mountain. Hiromi and Kiku strangely get a special power during battle and get rid of the monster. After the battle, they meet a group of girls called Shinsengumi. Hiromi and Kiku finally join the group after twists and turns. However, they conflict with another monster buster group called Kaientai, which is an official group. Also, a girl named Hiromi, who is totally the same as his deceased twin sister, appears in front of him. Moreover, they find Monster King sealed up in the basement. Like this, their three-sided fight begins now....
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9ZY_y6AM3ARuIGmeHpTFQ8
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 6/10
Overall rating: 6/10
A decent game overall that could be even called a masterpiece it it was reworked and reassembled. But guess I have a lot of explaining to do for each element.
As usual, let's start with the concept. Main character transfers to a new school and meets Kiku who claims to know him. Monster attack alarm starts to sound, kids get attacked by a monster, but fight him off with some unsealed powers. Three shinsengumi girls from the same school show up to deal with the rest of the monsters, and protagonist with Kiku join them for future fights. Then rival Kaientai group members join the fun, and everyday slapstick comedy begins with various dimensions cut-ins. In the second part various heroines problems show up, and a lot of dimension travel is used, but ending is not necessarily happy. After three main Shinsengumi heroines routes we move to three Kaientai sub-heroines routes, then director sub-heroine Regeneration route. And finally there is True Reincarnation route which reveals piled up mysteries, connects previous disjointed parts and moves in a cohesive way without weird cut-ins that happened all the time during common route.
The dimension shifts is the thing that makes game incomprehensible for all the first half. There is the current world, past world tackling previous lives, alternative reality worlds for each heroine with own future, also future parallel world of Michelle's coffee shop that serves as kind of base of operations. There is also interdimensional world with only black squares and some places of unknown location or time. All these dimensions switch without warning, and furthermore heroines can have changed personalities. It all makes head spin which renders common route to be the worse part of the game. Game does not have a real protagonist, and Hiromi is not present in most scenes at all. But luckily it all starts to make sense in the True route.
Let's turn to discussing flaws. Lack of explanation is the biggest one. Game is in dare need of glossary. Directorship of common route is horrible. Production values are rather sober with few patterns. All males are unvoiced. Game features a lot of elements unacceptable by certain types of players like me - notably, loli, incest and yandere personality. Four sub-heroines endings are super-short totaling less than an hour time and with a distinctive H tilt. There is a lot of unneeded text which makes it tiresome to read - with 2/3 of the text cut this would be a masterpiece game.
As for strong sides, True route mends story in a lot of ways. Slapstick comedy moments are nice. Heroines are rather attractive even though almost all of them are loli. Among them Kiku especially shines. She is the mysterious heroine from the start with common past and she is voiced by Mia Naruse with her cutest voice that I adore since the times of Sae from Nijuuei. Overall, as I said earlier, Reincarnation ☆ Shinsengumi feels as a decent game after completion, but only a minority of players can make it to the end due to numerous production failures.
Foreword: Another Mareni work that's worth investigating.
Synopsis:
Tomohisa has some memory of his childhood. When he was a kid, he was often playing at some place near his house. But his parents don't remember it. Tomohisa doesn't remember it clearly, either. One day, he finds a notebook. It is about history and things happened at a small town. It's just eccentric, so no one pays attention to it. But he knows who wrote it. It's his uncle, who has been missing for years. The notebook includes a town he spent his childhood. He soon gets interested in the town and decides to visit there. Days later, he arrives at the town, but there are a lot of strange things and customs in the town. He finds various curious goods there and gradually gets to know a secret of the town and his past....
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_M2PBQeRRnsbtrSUj2YRUB
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 8/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 9/10
Overall rating: 8/10
There are English reviews (1 2 3 4), and I've been enthralled by first sacredge0 review for many years by now. Reddit review by Tanzka also concentrantes on transfering the spirit of the game. It fits this game much better than my pragmatic dry approach. Still, here I come.
Concept is simple. Main character finds uncle's notes and follows them to get to the concealed town from his childhood faint memories. Town is full of curia, and with each new chapter starting with chapter 3 we get a story about an item connected to a different girl. Here is where supernatural part kicks in, and not every girl comes to terms with the reality as a result. Basically, game feels a lot like previous Kagerou Touryuuki - same new town, several heroines each with unique story, same walls of text and great atmosphere. But there are also important differences. Bengarachou Hakubutsushi does not dwell in the realm of fairytale dreams, instead it is a part of magical realism. It focuses on creating a sharply depicted realistic environment and then introduces items that pierce this reality. This realistic feeling suits Mareni writing much more empathizing power of text. Another very important difference is charming and lovely heroines delivering serious emotional impact (even cliché old-fashioned widow Matsumi manages to surprise a lot in her story).
What I did not like is same text options as in Kagerou Touryuuki, which means small kanji in horizontal view, absence of autoplay options. This time walls of text were even larger, so I witnessed "text too large" message way too often. Story is rather sober. Main character Tomohisa is unjustly popular, but it's not a romance game, so I don't care about it. Ending is the same for all four heroines with only H event and epilogue being different.
But there are much more good points. Game feels integrative with a cohesive story in modern times and realistic approach. Atmosphere is created by both text and really great BGM and represents joyful nostalgy, something rare to encounter. Heroines are loveable, but without moe banality. Just as previous raiL-soft game, it's not a game for everyone, so polarization can be huge - from all-time masterpiece to a boring game where nothing much happens. But by now Mareni readers already know what to expect, so it's nothing new.
Foreword: Abyss is one of the more known doujin games and even has a fuwanovel recommendation page. But I could find only one English review, so it needs to be fixed asap.
Synopsis:
Sasayama Akira was born into a family of assassins and trained as a child to become one of them. However, due to psychological issues, his father decided to send Akira to a relative's house, to live a normal life.
Several years later, Akira gets asked by the student council president to investigate a rumor of a group called Abyss, a shadowy group of students responsible for abducting and killing students in a grotesque game.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_JpraEZN60LRLufWm3loZt
Character Design rating: 7/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 8/10
Game quality: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10
I'm still not ready to evaluate a doujin game without voicing too high. And abyss is huge. It was actually delivered in three different issues before the complete version with first one seeing the light in September 2007. As a result, completing all the routes took 38 hours, and such volume without voicing can be difficult to digest.
The concept is simple - murders start to happen at school, and protagonist is dragged by a masked person to join the game. Basically, it's common battle royale concept that is popular in doujin chunige. But the actual game is neither pure survival like Killer Queen nor the battle of wits and hints like Umineko. We strive to survive, but also gather hints about opponents identities as well as learn to counter them. Quite a few mysteries pile up, and final Nami routes gives a lot of answers about protagonist past and ABYSS. And it's also not a simple mortal combat style game, because assassin means are deadly and fast, but also because multiple viewpoints are given throughout the story. We even start as a girl protagonist in common route. There's a lot to uncover, so mystery persists till the end.
As for deficiencies, I still don't like this concept just because it's battle royale. Participants are placed in a limited space so that they make the story themselves like a sandbox. A lot of stuff and twists are put on top of that to make forget about the core concept, but I still don't see an interesting story behind it all. Well, I did not like any game with similar concept, even FSN, so safely ignore this point. It's been a long time since I played a game with a zero voicing. It's a matter of habit, but everything gets a huge minus from me because of that. BGM is mostly good, but there are some with just a few sounds on repeat to create tension or smth, and I'd rather hear normal melodies. Game system is horrible for auto reading. I had to put lowest possible speed, but huge chunks of text disappeared too fast after small ones, and vice versa. CG are uneven. Basically, all heroines are strong, but in other people's routes they become weak. Another nitpick is that setting of ABYSS organization feared even by police is loosely shaped, lacks detail. Battles are depicted poorly and settled with one blow usually, but buildup and wits battle prior to that is nice. Some heroines routes bring little new and can be considered bonus ones.
Enough with negative points. On a bright side, in every route characters are mercilessly butchered, and you never know who or when gets to die. So there's a lot of room for emotional approach. Every heroine has her own story and motivation, and with so many masks identities remain unknown. Hints recovered throughout the game create doubts, but final route managed to take me by surprise, anyway. The good thing is that only couple heroines have traditional love scenes, some have violation, and Nonko has none at all. As you see, despite simple concept there's a lot of room for mystery, wits, tactics, twists, emotions and in-depth character stories. Don't let my evaluation scare you as it includes personal reasons. If you find such game enticing, you most assuredly won't be disappointed.
Foreword: It's a very curious game that I played in the past and then lost. Happy to find and finish it now.
Synopsis:
The plot of Natsu no Ame revolves around Sousuke, a soccer loving idiot who spends his days practicing with his two friends, Takeda and Midori for the day when he is allowed to return to the soccer club he was forced to resign from.
The story begins with Sousuke recalling a memory from his past where he pondered what qualifies as a first love, thinking about a young girl he teased almost to the point of tears as a child. Upon snapping back to the present Sousuke is made aware of a beautiful girl busy with her cellphone. After knocking her out of the way of on oncoming motorcycle he finds that he had also sent her cellphone into the river.
Being the nice guy protagonist that he is Sousuke then goes into the river to find her cellphone, however when he gives up and she tries to help him out he ends up pulling her in as well. First impressions aside he then finds out she wanted to know where his school was as she had just transferred in. Undaunted by his earlier screwups Sousuke decides to be a man and instead takes her on a tour of the town before finally dropping her off at school. In the end it seems he managed a favorable impression afterall!
Upon returning home he finds the very same girl in his home… where his mother informs him that she is his long lost half sister!
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_qJeEChKrppPpzU9YgpLA4
Character Design rating: 10/10
Protagonist rating: 10/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 10/10
Overall rating: 9/10
As you see, it's a perfect score that I can ever put to a charage that is not a plotge. There are fantastic English reviews for this game already (1 2 3 4), so I slack as usual. I used to play everything that Joyjason evaluated as 8 and higher, and that guy is usually very critical in his reviews leaving not too many games with normal scores. And for the first time ever he evaluated Natsu no Ame as 11/10... wow. Then there's this Zen guy from omochikaeri who is always very bitter in comments. I doubt I ever heard something positive from him about anything... and he writes a superlong review giving score of 90%... And now I'm enthralled as well... this game is a miracle.
Since it's not a plotge, it's enough to read synopsis. But since it's a charage, heroines need a close look. This game starts with introducing Rikako, and she is breathtaking. What's interesting, no one ever tried to present a similar personality (as a quick tags search showed me). I'm tired of brainless imouto and pervy onee-chan. Rikako is absolutely special as she is seriously unhappy and unfriendly. At the same time I just can't call her a tsundere as she is out of S and M system of coordinates. I guess she is so attractive, because she is so human-like. The way she blushes while angry and narrows eyes is cute beyond any measure. She absolutely does not care about protagonist and basically runs away several times. Independent and strong-willed qualities make us respect her as a human being. Midori is supergenki and tomboyish, and her best friend to lover transformation is really thrilling to watch. Hinako is a deredere school friend which is nothing new, but she is brilliantly voiced. She speaks with a light and funny accent, though I wish it to be a full-scale Kansai-ben. Last heroine teacher Misa is surprisingly interesting as well. She is easily embarassed, but with her route we dwell into adult territory with alcohol and loli teacher's daughter.
I absolutely can't recall any deficiencies of this work. By the end of Hinako route I started to think that I've overgrown all these youth anxieties and would like to see serious adult relations, but with Misa route even this argument was utterly destroyed. It gave both matureness and feeling of family with loli daughter Nene included. Could probably nitpick over something (no amount of CG is enough), but just don't want to. Even protagonist was cautious and attentive enough to give a positive impression. So let's leave things with perfect scores for once.
I still stay my ground that charage should have plotge elements, so I like modern tendencies where games got so expensive to make that pure moege are eliminated and pure charage are limited. These genres have piled up enormous amount of works similar in nature and thus forgotten. But with this fierce competition the best of the best stay forever with reader and motivate to not lose interest with the genre. And Natsu no Ame smiles shyly observing the battlefield from unreachable height. Perfect.
Foreword: Cover is worryingly fanservice-ish , but with Micchi and Accany praise it should not be a problem, right?
Synopsis:
You start off as Kenji, a pretty ordinary kid (yes you start off as a kid) who’s visiting his aunt during the holidays with his father. There, he meets his cousin Ai, a quiet girl who is just one year younger than him. They were left together in the house so they went out to the nearby sea to play.
But because Ai was so quiet, Kenji decided to play alone in the sea while Ai looked at him from the beach. Going back home, Ai lied to her mother that they had fun together. This continued right up till the end of the summer holidays.
Feeling really guilty, Kenji decided to be more friendly towards her. The next year, he took the initiative and played with her. Another year passes by and he came over to her town for the holidays. They are already extremely good friends and look forward to each others company.
Then the bombshell was dropped. Their parents were getting married. But they were still young and didn’t really understand what was happening. The only thing they knew was that they are now siblings. Kenji now stays in the same town as Ai and lives together with her. New neighbors, new friends and new adventures await.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_YtB_vW7rSKK6QYqSFsBYh
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 5/10
Story rating: 6/10
Game quality: 7/10
Overall rating: 6/10
I actually have to retract masterpiece nomination for Sorairo. I don't have complaints about strong sides numerated by Accany (art, cuteness, child to teenage transformation, strong ending), but he just turns a blind eye to all negative traits, and there are some seriously flawed elements in here that often make reading unbearable.
I was driven here by art here and expected experience akin to Reconquista or Amber Quartz. Instead, what I got was spiritual continuation of Lamune. Same world 20 years later. Basically, Sorairo main heroine Tomosaka Suzuka is a daughter of Tomosaka Tsubame from Lamune. This legacy business reminds me of horrible Summer Radish Vacation, and that's a bad comparison to undertake here. In a way it's also return to the origins of NekoNeko Soft, particularly, Mizuiro where past + present system was first utilized. Game starts with childhood period, and from the start it's all about pants, bras, bloomers and taking bath together with all three loli girls. This huge fanservice tilt kills all the seriousness for me. And many of these pervy situations get reflected later in the adolescence period. Game throws at us dozens of choices with the only meaning - to determine which girl world image will be produced on the adolescence period. Basically, heroines other than chosen in childhood can't get their full romantic endings, just half-friendship endings. And this is main feature of the game - to include six additional normal endings in addition to romantic ones.
I already started complaining, so let's recall weak points. Too complex structure with 11 endings for 3 heroines and dozens of useless choices. Too much fanservice for me to bear. Loli heroines that I could not really attach to. Many events are similar creating sense of artificiality. H event usually happens early in each route. The whole work is about admiring innocent loli girls, so don't expect anything deep happening.
Among good sides is generally good SOL with all heroines communicating among themselves. Girls personalities are different, but bright and positive. Abundant number of endings kills excitement, but provides sense of completeness and more detailed depiction of each heroine from different sides. Romance endings of each heroine are paid additional attention to provide a better impression with Tsubame one being the strongest. Most events happen near the sea or on a sunny day, so positive atmosphere is created. As Accany puts it, you will probably enjoy this game unless you're some anti-SOL freak. Guess that's me. I would not play it if I knew it was Lamune + Mizuiro fusion. After Natsu no Ame the contrast is especially huge. I'd like it much more if there were only true routes and more compact simple structure.
Foreword: When I face Sengoku feminization in anime I facepalm and look away, but this setting was not as frequent back in the past, so it fascinates me to try and find that one source that impressed followers so much.
Synopsis:
Mitsuhide is an extremely poor ‘student ronin’ who gets by via part-time jobs. One day, he receives an enrollment letter to Sengoku Gakuen and readily accepts it. On his first day, a girl named Nobunaga points her sword at him: “How dare you show your face to me, I’m gonna cut your head off!”. Fearful for his life, he explains that he’s not the real Akechi Mitsuhide, but that their names are just the same by coincidence. One by one, he meets girls with the name of other famous generals, such as Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin, who all mistaken him for the actual Mitsuhide.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEnYFRQbAtQs5j5GLk8wnbq0
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 7/10
If you're still here, you're here for historical parody and cute girls, and I just can't give higher scores for such genre even though it must be the most hilarious historical parody I encountered. There are battles and even some kind of conflict, but for the most part it's done in a comedy manner. It's not wise to expect a serious story or romance game either. Moreover, some dip into Japanese history is necessary to understand at least historic figures behind heroines and protagonist.
Game is divided into 11 episodes with common route taking 5-6 episodes, by the end of 7th episode flag is set, then there are 3 episodes of individual route, plus one ecchi epilogue with H scenes split is one for end of individual route and two for skippable epilogue. And I like this clear structure a lot for this lack of H content and taking it away in the skippable appendix with ability to choose option to return to main menu instead before it.
Game has six different individual routes, and those routes can vary from total war to spokon, plus girls personalities are absolutely different. Game has Nobunaga in the title, and Nobunaga route has the most serious development, tension and impactful ending out of all. But at the same time it leaves a somewhat bad aftertaste, so it's nice to progress with the heroine of your liking (Shingen!) next and enjoy a light different development. But here is where repetitions of scenes kick in, and some stories felt plain bad for me. So the longer you go, the more tiredness accumulates, and it's best to skip heroines you don't like (Mouri!)
So Ouka Sengoku is a surprisingly decent game with really good parody, comedy and so much cuteness that it can rival some moege even without tilting into H. Moe, chuni, action, SOL are mixed well in here. I don't have flaws section this time, because I don't see any taking genre in account. Moreover, high variability of routes and heroines allows for everyone to enjoy only favorite parts and safely skip the rest. That's a great recipe for a game done with talent and not pretending to be epic.
Year 2011 is a hurricane of great titles. My initial pick contained 20 masterpieces, but had to widen this selection up to 28 with some additional feedback since I can't sample it all on my own at the moment and there are genres I just can't force myself to play. Visual Novel Openings 2011 with songs just because.
My list of masterpieces in 2011:
Aiyoku no Eustia
Bloody Rondo
Dengeki Stryker
Duelist engage
Dunamis 15
Grisaia no Kajitsu
Hanachirutani Sanjinkou
Hotel.
Hyper→Highspeed→Genius
Irotoridori no Sekai
Izuna Zanshinken
Kajiri Kamui Kagura
Kamikaze ☆ Explorer!
Koi de wa Naku - It's not Love, but so Where Near
Koikishi Purely ☆ Kiss
Legend Seven ~Shirayuki Hime to Shichinin no Eiyuu~
Manatsu no Yoru no Yuki Monogatari
Midori no Umi
Mirai Nostalgia
Onigokko!
Otomimi ∞ Infinity
Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi
Taiyou no Promia
Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide
Tiny Dungeon ~Birth for Yours~
Vermilion -Bind of Blood-
Walkure Romanze ~Shoujo Kishi Monogatari~
Yurikago yori Tenshi made
That's a huge number. I know I say it each time that this is real golden age of visual novels, but that's how I feel. I'm on lookout for changes to the worse, but no signs of that as of yet. With this great selection choosing one does not come easy, but I choose light over blackness (meaning Akatsuki Works Black) , lol. Does not matter which one of light's two works of the year, actually.
Year 2012 is probably the last great year, at least it looks like that to me now. Extended list of masterpieces includes as many as 33 titles this time which is more than ever. But at the same time private stories more and more substitute epic stories, so I actually have trouble choosing one representing the year. Visual Novel Openings 2012 as usual.
My list of masterpieces in 2012:
'&' - Sora no Mukou de Sakimasu you ni -
1/2 Summer
Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~
Astelight Jourantan
Astraythem
Chuuning Lover
Dolphin Divers
Dracu-Riot!
Fata morgana no Yakata
Grisaia no Meikyuu
Gun Knight Girl
Gurenka
Hatsuyuki Sakura
Harumade, Kururu.
Kimi e Okuru, Sora no Hana
Kono Sekai no Mukou de
Kouyoku no Soleil -vii’s World-
Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! S
Namima no Kuni no Faust
Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas
Owaru Sekai to Birthday
Re:birth Colony -Lost Azurite-
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days-
Rose Guns Days
Sakura, Sakimashita.
Shinigami no Testament ~menuet of epistula~
SINCLIENT
Strawberry Feels
Tiny Dungeon ~Brave or Slave~
Tokyo Babel
Tsuisou no Augment
Tsukumo no Kanade ~Kaketsuki no Yasoukyoku~
Zero Infinity -Devil of Maxwell-
It does not have that huge of a meaning which one to chose, so I'll only give CG to show my preference.
And I guess I need to choose at least one game for review from 2012 and it will be Astelight Jourantan , hopefully the full trilogy.
Traditional January with just 6 normal releases. Natsu no Owari no Nirvana is VN of the Month while Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai is also good within its genre. Clephas had the same favorite. Micchi likes Shiro no Pikapika Ohoshi-sama in addition to Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai
1. Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai 大図書館の羊飼い [130125] August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
When he was young, Kyoutarou wanted to read all the magic books in the world, but they were all in the magic library. Someone told him that to get there, he must be kind to everyone and bring happiness to their hearts. He received a bookmark, which was his entrance ticket to the magic library.
One day while heading to school, he received a text from the ‘shepherd’ (hitsujikai) telling him that his fate was going to change. He had a vision of an accident at the tram station and helped prevent any injuries by calling away a nearby girl. That girl, Tsugumi, later came to the Library Club room, which he was a member of, to thank him and also to ask for his help to make Shiomi Academy more fun. It seemed that she had also received a text from the shepherd, who is rumoured to appear before people who try their best to grant their wishes. One by one, other students also join their group with the shepherd’s guidance.
There are English reviews
2. Gears of Dragoon ~Meikyuu no Uroboros~ GEARS of DRAGOON～迷宮のウロボロス～ [130125] Ninetail 1 2 3 4
A new land, Elysium continent. Many dangerous monsters lurk on its surface, but plentiful resources and artifacts attract numerous treasure hunters.
Being one of them, the protagonist starts his adventures. He wants to earn enough money to cure his younger sister's illness. But even the most innocent goal can be achieved via different means.
Righteous light or merciless darkness? The choice is yours.
RPG has English reviews
3. Natsu no Owari no Nirvana 夏の終わりのニルヴァーナ [130125] Pajamas Soft 1 2 3 4 5
Four girls who lost their memories.
In order to judge the girls' held sins, the protagonist Karma is sent to Yamashiro academy.
What greeted him who was trembling with expectation and anxiety,
The girl who wants to die, Mihaya. The girl who bears a sin from birth, Nayu.
The girl who rejected the world, Reia. The girl who could not save the person she loved, Nono.
The peacefully calming, somewhat fleeting transient school life he spends with the girls...
That is, the last moratorium given to those girls who hold secrets in their souls, and at the same time to Karma a time of trial.
With his childhood friend Kuon who watches over Karma, he personally abides and rises to his task.
The souls which bear sins, will they return to the continuous flow of life? Or will they fall towards hell...?
And what is the true reason Karma was entrusted to the girls' judgments...?
Everything has been entrusted to the Karma's own decision.
There are English reviews
4. Princess Kiss! ~Shoujo 1000-nenki Monogatari~ プリンセスキッス！ ～少女1000年紀物語～ [130125] Princess Sugar
A great disaster will befall the island nation of Grande Yakumo on its 1000th anniversary. A large tectonic shift caused a giant relic structure to suddenly appear out of the ground. After a difficult journey, an investigation team arrived at the ‘first room’, where they found Akira in a cold sleep. They wondered if he could offer a hint about the pre-collapse era, but no one knew if he was alive or how they could wake him up.
One day, three friends Himari, Fiora and Luka snuck into the research lab where Akira was being held to take a look at him. Suddenly, there was a large quake and the princess Himari accidentally kissed him. Her kiss woke him up, just like in Sleeping Beauty except with a reversal of roles. Later, they found out that when he fell asleep, someone must kiss him to wake him up. Since Akira was essential to the search of the ruins and understanding what caused the collapse of the previous world, the three girls were also brought along to give him kisses.
Even though setting is quite elaborate, scenario remains shallow with individual routes very weak.
5. Shiro no Pikapika Ohoshi-sama しろのぴかぴかお星さま [130125] Sweetlight 1 2
‘Fairyland’ is like a heaven for animals after they die. Shiro waited for her master Yuki to come take her home since she had seen other pets meet their masters after waiting for dozens of years. However, she was an impatient puppy and decided to call for him, wishing from the bottom of her heart to meet her dearest Yuki again and to see his smiling face once more.
Ten years passed and the Fairyland granted Shiro’s wish with a miracle. She was given a human form and her calls finally reached him. Even though he didn’t recognize her at first, she knew him right away even though he had grown up. She was so happy to finally reunite with her master whom she loved so much. So, Shiro lives together once again with Yuki, but this time as a girl.
There are English reviews
6. Tokeijikake no Ley Line -Zan'ei no Yoru ga Akeru Toki- 時計仕掛けのレイライン －残影の夜が明ける時－ [130125] Unison Shift: Blossom 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Michiru and Ushio continue to spend their days solving problems at Tenbinruri Academy as part of the special investigation office, otherwise known as ‘Tokusa’. One day, a foreign girl named Adelheid came to seek their help in looking for her grandmother’s memento. Along the way, will they find out more about the link between the day and night worlds?
There are English reviews
BLOCKED
1. Sono Hikari Sono Tsubasa ~Azathoth no Isan~ その光その翼～アザトースの遺産～ [130107] T no Nijou 1 2
Since he was young Kisaragi Touma had been sick from an unknown disease. The doctors who gave up one after the others and a life of being continually hospitalized forced him to face this battle alone.
But after being contacted by his father he hadn't seen in years, Touma moved to a huge medical facility in Hokkaido.
Finally making two friends, Yui and Marcus, his heart began to heal little by little.
But the facility hides a big secret that unravel little by little and trigger an event that could influence the whole world. Doujin game has English reviews
2. Offline Shoujo オフライン少女 [130111] Chainsou 1
Nayuta lives with his mother in the not-too-distant Nipponbashi in Osaka while working on creating apps for smartphones. The Nipponbashi Street Festival (Sutofes) has had growing attendance over the years, but it has particularly garnered a lot of attention this year with the expansion of the underground shopping centre, being featured in the world’s premier internet company Eagle-sha’s real map web service Roadview and also being supported by the mayor. Nayuta and his friend Hajime went to the underground idol concert and met the idol Rikka, and he was charmed by her song. He also happened to met a new system engineer from Eagle-sha, Chisato, with whom he had often chatted online.
While set in Den-Den Town, the focus of the game appears to be rather on family relations. Nayuta dropped out of school in order to help out his divorced mother. Chisato gave up everything she had to become an engineer in order to gain her parents’ love. Rikka was raised by a foster father and doesn’t know her true parents.
Doujin game has an English review
3. Jitaku Keibiin 自宅警備員 [130115] Beelzebub 1 2 3
He is a private home security officer with 20 years of military experience. Exceptionally trained in technology and intelligence gathering, he perceives and records the smallest of details of the home to which he is dispatched.
His new assignment is directly from his father, Takao Kareki. He must look after his father's new lover, a potential bride. Nothing but the best professional will do to keep her safe. But in her home, he sees all.
Nukige has English reviews
4. Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! A-1 真剣で私に恋しなさい！A-1 [130118] Minato Soft 1 2 3 A fandisc featuring new routes for Benkei, Azumi, and Sayaka. Fandisc
5. Gakuen NTR ~Boku no Shiranai Kanojo no Kao~ 学園NTR ～僕の知らない彼女の淫顔～ [130125] Atelier G/H 1
Yuuto, a high schooler, is sick of being a virgin. He wants to have a girlfriend before the end of the summer term.
After getting rejected by his classmate, Maina, he wants to aim big. His future girlfriend has to be one of the school's idols.
Luckily there are Hina and Miya, his classmates who work as bikini models for cheesecake advertisments. Yuuto is not the only one who has taken an interest in them, though.
Nukige has an English review
6. Kikouyoku Senki Gin no Toki no Corona -Fortune Dragon’s- 輝光翼戦記 銀の刻のコロナ -Fortune Dragon’s- [130125] Eternal 1 2 3
One year has passed after the day when this world was saved from destruction. Tokino and Akane graduated, and with no imminent threat all member now enjoy their long awaited carefree days. But on a certain night of falling stars a new force has begun to move, and once again Touka's exceptional sense warns him about danger. Fandisc
7. Kono Oozora ni, Tsubasa o Hirogete Flight Diary この大空に、翼をひろげて FLIGHT DIARY [130125] Pulltop 1 2 This is the fandisk for Konosora, featuring a before story for the Soaring Club (after Amane’s route), an after story for the Soaring Club (after Kotori’s route), as well as if stories for subheroines Hotaru and Kanako. There’s also some additional ecchi-focused side stories for twins Asa and Yoru, and siblings Ageha and Hotaru. Fandisc
8. Material Brave Ignition マテリアルブレイブ イグニッション [130125] Team Baldrhead 1
This is the fandisc for the action adventure Material Brave, consisting of after stories for the 5 heroines, as well as a new story for the childhood friend Ena. There are additional dungeons during the ADV/ACT part, with new weapons and outfits.
After an all-out battle with Ena, Ayumu lost his unleashed powers and Ena fell into a deep sleep as a cocoon-shaped enigmatite. He set out to recover his powers and bring Ena back to normal, but hurried back to Kamioshiro-jima when he heard that the research facility where Ena was being held was being attacked by a new type of Neoplasm. Ayumu suffered serious injuries while trying to fight them off without his powers. He touched Ena's cocoon and there was a flash of light, with Ena's pained voice warning him about a new enemy which would be the beast of the apocalypse. His unleashed powers returned to him and his teammates were happy to welcome him back as their leader, but many mysteries and challenges await them.
Beat'em Up fandisc
Foreword: I seriously neglected this game as a light novel short spin-off from an obscure maker. And guess what - it was a shocking blast akin to XBlaze Code: Embryo
Synopsis:
This is an all-ages cross-media series by bishoujo game company mana and light novel publisher MF Bunko J. It is written by Okano Touya and TAMAMI. The light novel covers the first part of the story, while the kinetic novel DVD that comes with the special version of the paperback details the second part of the story.
Magic item appraiser Lang visits the house of an impoverished noble to collect debts. There he meets a proud girl named Charlotte who has a great sense of justice and duty to her followers. Even though she had already given out most of her possessions away, he plans to salvage some assets, but…
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEmfhuBbzonBQoblJCGKgV6j
Character Design rating: 10/10
Protagonist rating: 10/10
Story rating: 8/10
Game quality: 10/10
Overall rating: 9/10
First, let's get over with XBlaze Code: Embryo parallels. Both games are all-age 100% voiced story focused interesting stories, and both actively use continuous visual effects. But Noblelige manages to be much more mature, exciting and exclusive. As you see from the scores, I absolutely love all characters in this game including charismatic and developed villains. Art is majestic, and personalities fit their images perfectly. After episode 1 my rating for this game was 10/10 as I could not find anything at all that might raise hesitation. I'll note my concerns about episode 2 later.
Protagonist is alchemist apprentice , former infiltrator and current tax collector Lang Donohue. Flashbacks into his saturated past take a good quarter of the game. He is reasonable, calculating and inventive, so his battles are often based on a thorough strategy. Main heroine Charlotte, on the other hand, is a more traditional arrogant blonde noble, but also surprisingly capable in fencing, cheerful and reckless. Roughly speaking, these guys are opposites
Episode 1 is very funny as I counted as many as five great jokes (mostly based around Charlotte nature) versus just two in rather serious Episode 2. It just looks so funny when Donohue comes to a worn mansion of Charlotte, knocks for a long time and decides to go down from the roof. Charlotte assaults him as a burglar , but it gets evident that she heard knocking and crying , but it was beyond her dignity to open the door instead of a butler. To the question where butler is now she answers that all the servants took some time off to consider Charlotte's suggestion to serve out of loyalty and not for money. And it's just one such well-prepared multi-layered joke.
But despite overall cheerful nature game is absolutely not for kids. Main characters don't kill anyone, but there are a lot of deaths happening right in front of them and in Lang's past. Basically, Charlotte is something between Don Quixote and Sailor-moon. She treats everyone with utter arrogance but also charges to anyone's help request as a champion of justice and protector of land (also less subjects means less taxes!). It looks especially awkward because she is alone from her noble family with zero servants and loads of taxes in a crumbling mansion. Lang is sent to retrieve that huge loan and to hunt for family sacred artifact "Blue Tear". Charlotte lightmindedly promises to give him the artifact if he proves himself in the servitude, and Lang can't just turn back due to his personal circumstances. And basically Episode 1 and Episode 2 are two different help requests that trigger some adventure.
These two admirable characters are placed in a very cruel world. Runaways here are easily shot by their own comrades, slave trade is commonplace and loan organizations are super powerful as money powers this world. So there are quite a lot of parallels with our life. And Charlotte is the main star of this game also for the reason that she ignores laws of this world , follows her heart , does crazy things and actually manages to take over and impose her will. The results of her actions are actually much more successful in the long run than reasonable goal setting approach of Lang. That's what I liked in this game. Investment in people manages to beat investment in things. The very loan of Charlotte family makes Lang stay loyal while effective approach would quickly close the deal.
Episode 1 runs 4.5 hours and is perfect in tempo. Episode 2 lasts 6 hours and for the first half of it even conflict does not get set. Then second half is all about conflict, of course. My first complaint is about flashbacks in Episode 2. I don't mind flashbacks, but I really was confused several times as flashback begins under some pressing conditions and after flashback those conditions often get resolved without it being shown. First couple times it's even funny as it's hard to say what's reality, what's flashback and what's a dream, but it starts to irritate eventually. I was afraid that all flashbacks and extra characters won't be integrated into the story properly, but eventually it all fused nicely. Second and last complaint is about ending as it's abrupt and failing to explain and finish things properly. Still I secretly admire such endings as maker literally says that he does not care about game's success and will finish as artistic nature demands and not to the public's crooked will.
I praise Noblelige for being a great anime-resembling experience. Romance in visual novels hinders this feeling a lot, and few all-ages non-romance games ever each this level of story-telling. And I'll go even further here and compare Noblelige with Goblin slayer. After all, both are serious thrilling stories of blood and sweat where one character is a calculating genius and the other one is a noble radiant soul in this forsaken damned world not suitable for any decent species living. Even master-servant roles are similar yet opposite. Main character in both titles relies on artifacts and utility items while possessing average power. And this comparison is the best possible praise I can think of even though everything pales in comparison with Goblin slayer as the most inspiring anime ever made.
Foreword: Shoujo Shin'iki has some English reviews already, but they tend to focus on negative sides (1 2 3) even though game deserves better.
Synopsis:
Shun has always wondered what was on the other side of the stone walls surrounding and beyond the tunnel out of Kaijou-shi ever since he was a child. However, he never ventured out since every time there was an opportunity to do so, he fell ill or there was some family business. After he graduated from Seihoukan Gakuen, he decided right then to leave his hometown.
The next spring, he received a call from his mother, asking him to come back for the Seikousai festival which he had always attended since he was small. His family kept the items for the festival, but this year’s event will be even bigger than normal. His imouto Sana and osananajimi Yuki both had been chosen as the miko for the kagura dance.
As he was returning back to Kaijou-shi on the train, he reflected on why he left his hometown. He had found nothing special on the other side, just the beginning of a new life. However, it felt like he had lost something along the way. Then he could hear his osananajimi’s gentle voice: “Shun-chan, it’s been a while since you’ve been back”. He felt like those words livened his spirits and comforted his heart.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEk09JR45yzp8YI97UXpaB0j
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Basic information can be acquired from synopsis and other reviews, but I want to focus on ups and downs right away. So these five thing things are what game is sometimes criticized for:
1. A lot of scenes are present in all routes
2. All endings are the same, except for Sana's which is short and vague.
3. Story sucks as a typical creepy village with occult customs
4. Action scenes are boring
5. No character development for heroines
To tell the truth, these are hard to oppose, but I'll try, anyway.
1. Those scenes are mostly transition ones to each individual routes and final scenes that have to be the same for the game's purpose.
2. Game concept can justify three similar endings and one special ending for Sana.
3. Story is clearly hommage to Leaf's classical visual novel Kizuato, so it has to follow ancient concept from 1996 to an extent.
4. Game is atmospheric mystery utsuge. Action scenes aren't focused on here. At times of conflict one side is usually seriously overpowered, so there can hardly be a proper battle.
5. Are there really that many games with character development for heroines? We're not growing a bride here, and protagonist is in the center of the conflict, not heroines, so why should they be developing.
Shoujo Shin'iki is a complex construction built over classical visual novels centered around beast, primarily Kizuato. Both games have same clan/shrine that seals beast madness instincts in males of the same blood, in both games there are for heroines with the youngest heroine having a special ending if protagonist for several times denies intimacy suggested to him. But Shoujo Shin'iki also introduces occultism and a multiple-layer mystery.
What makes Shoujo Shin'iki a masterpiece for me is breathtaking graphics and heroines, fantastic atmosphere, complex setting, those ugly yet memorable ending scenes and the impact. All this beauty is repeatedly crushed by a single occult power burst. This repeats over and over creating aura of inevitability. But there is redemption, a way out of this loop which is indicated by Sana's special ending. That's the whole conceptual meaning of it. No use to wait here an afterstory of how they got married and raised kids. It's just not that kind of a game. With all that game has enough depth and complexity for those who seek it. And it's a rarity in the game when the meaning is concealed in the depth of the game and not in the ending. And then rereading the game main part brings in new depth.
But if it's a masterpiece, why just 7/10? Because I tend to take disturbing scenes like these badly. All those endings and preceding events with Honoka create a depressing impression. Same route construction repeats for the 4 routes, so I'd read only two if I knew beforehand. The package of the game says "Story does not always has a happy ending". This is exactly such case.
Foreword: Third review in a row, huh. I just had footages done beforehand. Prism Princess is a booby action with some animated H scenes which wound usually instantly put game out of my interest zone. But it has fighting heroines, plus humor is reported to be worthy, so why not check it myself. Wanted to change game several times, but found nothing to replace it within a year.
Synopsis:
One day, a naked girl appeared in hikikomori Naoto’s room. She stripped off his pants and declared: “I’ve found you, son of the demon lord! Now die!” She swung at him with a sword that she pulled out of nowhere, but it was stopped by another naked girl. “I will definitely protect you…” On top of that, his childhood friend is an idol and his younger sister is not just a chuuni, but secretly a powerful magician!? What the hell is going on?
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEkbd-pr8jHX-cXpZVmsg71n
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 3/10
Game quality: 7/10
Overall rating: 5/10
The story gets such a huge blow because it's a collection of the most banal existing chiche. Main character with supposed link to demon king gets assaulted by one naked girl with a sword and protected by another naked girl with a sword - traditional angel and devil allegory. In an instant they agree to live together with protagonist alongside imouto and childhood friend. Of course all of them go to school together and naive outsiders learn the human world and human ways... In the middle of the game some kind of knight spirit appears, and the only miniscule intrigue is learning knight's identity as he eventually becomes antagonist. Super boring. Two non-fighting heroines routes are even worse.
Of course the only way such synopsis can be accepted if it's presented as a parody to all the most beaten cliche. I found humor dense and vulgar with the only appealing points being RPG spirit mix. But you should make own opinion from the following several examples:
- Talking dog suddenly appears, protects protagonist against a sword with his teeth and is asked to introduce himself - so he treats this question as inquiring how he can talk while holding a sword with his teeth instead , so a lengthy explanation about technique follows
- Sword battle between celestial beings is suddenly finished as old guy appears and gives everyone bumps with bare hands
- When Prism wants to pee in the middle of the school lesson, two outsiders start to discuss RPG means of dealing with it like teleportation or hypnosis spell
- Masturbation is declared as main theme from the start and is often referred to
- Two main heroines fighting with swords naked for the whole duration of prologue is supposed to be funny
- Girls discussion of elemental attributes and weaknesses transforms into discussing sister attribute power and weakness
I did not get the sources of parodies, to be honest, e.g. I did not watch Haiyore! Nyaruko-san which is one of the biggest inspirations. And it's still a booby-action. Naked sprites and animated H scenes have always been two important indicators of nukige, and this game has both. If it had the third indicator - harem route - I would label this game as one from the start.
So, game does not shine with story or heroines. Mild RPG spirit, parody and non-repulsive SOL are probably the only good traits of it. But is it enough to play this game? That's what everyone should decide themselves.
Foreword: I know I was going to review Schwarzesmarken, and I quite liked the anime version, but I see zero reason to play the game after anime. Ama no Sora Retrospect, on the other hand, seems to have zero English reviews despite the non-trivial setting, thus it fits my choice pattern nicely.
Synopsis:
Amanosora is a small town of around 60,000 people, formed ten years ago from the merger of the villages of Tensei and Sorami. Shikimi attends the local school with the cleaning club leader Himari and his lively kouhai Shinon. There’s a rumour at the school that the door to another world would be opened by pressing a certain sequence of buttons in the elevator at the lighthouse in the Stargazing Commemorative Hall.
One day, the school committee asked the cleaning club to tidy up the interior of the lighthouse. Together with his mysterious book-reading classmate Misumi, they solved the elevator riddle while doing the cleaning. It led to the top floor of the lighthouse, which was a huge fairytale-like library. This was the other world: Remembrance. A small girl named Amahoshi awoke from her slumber and asked for their help in gathering the town’s scattered memories.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU-wNyVG10o&list=PLwGwDxf37gElxanVUMQVC9AYM7z-xo4Rs
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 5/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 6/10
I have mixed feelings about this game. As you see from the scores, game quality is really high, but individual elements weren't to my liking. Game tries to look different from most charage as it diversifies SOL events by including small mystery elements. It often feels like a light novel. See for yourself - first there's the concept that God is a monkey, then wailing of undead is heard, next we're introduced to the library of memories, a short while there's a sudden outburst of public homosexuality (trap - check). Finally, main characters prepare a play for the town festival, where we choose one of four girls, and this is the only choice in the game. During individual routes we basically help the girl by relieving her from shackles of memories, so the pair can proceed to the happy future life. That's basically it. So the whole elaborate setting is not so elaborate in the long run and is needed only as pretext to handle memories directly in individual routes.
Again, I can't say that girls aren't likeable, but none of them feels right. Shinon is the most human-like from them, but she's a rather normal genki blonde twin-tail booby girl. Amahoshi the goddess is surprisingly plain , and her route is absolutely the worst and overwhelmingly boring. Head of club Himari is super plain and uninteresting. Misumi is a traditional long black hair calm book reader. The contents of routes is quite fresh, but nothing overwhelming dealing with such normal things as twin sister, old friend, hobbies like cooking or game arcade, a bit of time leaps, a bit of mystery. There are two scenario writers, and it feels due to quality shifts and the reason that longest Shinon route is twice as long as shortest Himari route.
I have one more grudge about this game. It's not serious even though it wants to be a mystery game. Atmosphere is absolutely loose and relaxed at all times. Even when undead start to wail, a freaking parody music begins leaving zero intrigue. There is no such thing as danger here, and mystery actually also dissolves with this feeling. Because there is no grand mystery, there is no climax in any of the routes. As for routes themselves, development is opportunistic at times. I also did not feel sincerity in SOL scenes, did not like the sub-characters like weird teachers and even the way group members communicate. There are no joint character CGs, and group does not feel integral with most communication done in the dialogue with the protagonist , and heroines just make small comments and jokes among each other.
Overall, pretty much every aspect of the game irritates me for some reason. Given the high quality and effort involved it's hard to articulate exact reasons, but even good ingredients don't feel properly cooked together. It's still a good game and can totally see how it can be liked, just not by me. And judging by the fact that it's the last Glace game and still without English reviews, it might be not my individual problem.
Foreword: I'm a fan of DnD , Wizardry 8 and Japanese Wizardry series, so I could not just pass by Dungeons & Daimeiwaku. As for Mareni writing, it's a stamp of minimally acceptable quality although without a normal story it can easily go astray.
Synopsis:
In the world of sword of magic, expert miners discovered an underground labyrinth in a remote area of the continent. “The Abyss” is very huge inside, full of monsters and traps. However, it was rumoured that ancient treasures lie deep inside its depths and adventurers from all over came to challenge the dungeon. Among them is the young and foolish samurai Shouran, and his party consisting of the sexy but problematic alchemist Nicolite, the aggressive M ninja Hakumeimaru and the expressionless mysterious archer Kurozuka.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEl3UABPvr6h2gRVAj86RTei
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 5/10
Game quality: 6/10
Overall rating: 6/10
I keep choosing Mareni works for review, but this must be the first time when I deny it of being a masterpiece if we don't count Albatross Koukairoku that I tried some 3 times and that I absolutely hate. And the reason is that Dungeons & Daimeiwaku is closer to Albatross Koukairoku than anything else I read from Mareni. But that is probably the best rated and most praised game of Mareni, so let's sort it out.
Common route is usually the best part of the game, but not in this game, apparently. It's a terribly long line of encounters with different monsters and several bonding events in-between. Archer Kurozuka is the only proper fighter, but she joins only at the very end of the common route, so fights in the common route are a mix of running , fighting due to emotional overflow, some tricks, luck and intervention of higher forces. This is supposed to be the part to pour in all the humor available, but I did not like humor in the game. There aren't normal jokes with structure and punches. "Humor" here is achieved mostly through the same means as in Albatross - abnormal illogical development, denying laws of ethics, forgetting to fill plot loopholes, fumble way of doing things and just straightforward cheating. I tried to catch a glimpse of normal humor, but at best it's some phrase thrown during ambush while inventing a way to deal with it, although no punch ever follows.
Then three individual routes follow... and those are pretty horrible. Hakumeimaru just deals with her sister and is plain unfinished. Nicolite in her route deals with her (different) sister, and even though this route has a logical ending, it's so quirky that I it might as well be unfinished as well. With boobs in clothes as route main heroine, this route is also destined to become most etchy and it even hosts a 3P h-event. Kurozuka archer is rather serious in comparison, so her route is most action-packed, but it's still fighting only a sub-boss, so it does not feel goal-setting or meaningful on a large scale. There is also a True route available from the menu after clearing individual routes, but I almost missed it because game has zero walkthroughs on Japanese sites, just insane. And Chinese sites give choices for individual routes, but absolutely forget to mention the True route in any way. So this true route is actually the best part of the game as it becomes rather serious and does not need to waste time on trash mobs, so development finally acquires some meaning and some kind of whacky resolution.
As a result, playing this game for the story is a waste of time. Trying to find humor is pointless. I did not feel DnD or Wizardry spirit in here, sadly, as without proper seriousness game becomes a mere parody. After all, there is no aim and no super-antagonist to keep the parts glued. So I have trouble defining reasons to play this game. I rated Astelight trilogy as masterpiece because it was fast-paced chaotic quirky development. But Dungeons & Daimeiwaku has a single setting that it needs to maintain, just like Albatross Koukairoku. So it becomes just a themed collection of quirks, weirdness , gimmicks, erotics and parody. I could finally enjoy humor and characters only in the True route to an extent. It mends things to a certain degree creating a plausible final impression, but when I remember the torture of Common Route and half-baked individual routes (except for Kurozuka that had its nice moments), I absolutely deny this game a masterpiece status. Without proper story, atmosphere or humor it can only appeal to niche auditory that can appreciate quirky humor and relations.
Akira and Hotaru no Haka are firm masterpieces for me with the first one as personal favorite. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu and Tonari no Totoro are borderline masterpieces.
1. Sakigake!! Otokojuku Charge!! Men's Private School 魁!!男塾 [1988-I] Lantis (Dropped 8/34)
Tags: Shounen Delinquents, Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy
Otokojuku: a private school for juvenile delinquents that were previously expelled from normal schools. At this school, Japanese chivalry is taught through feudal and military fundamentals. Similar to an action film, the classes are overwhelmed by violence. Only those who survive it become true men.
First comedy episodes are perfect, but as violence kicks in, it starts to get overboard. In the 80s it was still fine, but today... not so sure. Midway it suddenly stopped to be funny. And I don't want to recommend this anime for others either, so 6 is the right score for it .
Overall Rating: 6/10
2. Osomatsu-kun (1988) おそ松くん [1988-I] Pierrot (Dropped 3/86)
Tags: Gag Humor Comedy
Meet the Osomatsu boys—sextuplets who look, speak, dress and talk like the same. They only add to the hyper eccentric residents of the town who easily break any boundaries defined by common sense. Check your logical thinking and reason at the door and immerse yourself in everyday lives of unique characters who are wild both in appearance and temperament!
Humor is good, but absurd and episodical, so it's difficult to watch more than one episode in a row considered that each episode consists of two stories. .
Overall Rating: 6/10
3. Shoukoushi Cedie Little Lord Fauntleroy 小公子セディ [1988-I] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/43)
Tags: Drama, Slice of Life
After his father's sudden death, Ceddie moves to England as an heir to his grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt.
The Earl is a stubborn and selfish old man. Gradually, however, Ceddie's innocent love opens the Earl's heart and changes him into a caring and generous person.
This is based on "Little Lord Fauntleroy" by F.H.Burnett.
World masterpiece series, so only for those who like old literature-like SOL.
Overall Rating: 5/10
4. Tatakae!! Ramenman 闘将!!拉麺男 [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 3/35)
Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Adventure
Set in a land where several martial arts styles collide, including (but not limited to) Chinese Kung Fu, Japanese Karate, and South Korean Taekwondo. Yet amongst these Shaolin-trained fighters and men powerful enough to cut the face of a mountain, Victory Ramenman is said to be the strongest of them all. At a young age, he witnessed his father Somenman being murdered by members of the Cobra Gang (who are still running rampant to this day). Found and taken in by the wise old Chen Sou-Mei, Ramenman trains for 12 years under his master and learns the great Essential Battle Dragon (闘龍極意書, To Ryuu Gokui Sho) style of Choujin Martial arts. Now, with his young sidekick Shao-Mai, Ramenman travels the land seeking vengeance for his father, fighting several villains along the way.
There were much more cool heroes in Kinnikuman, but I guess in popularity poll can't compete with Chinese population. Anyway, martial arts action trying to compete with Fist of the North Star is a very low starting position. Absolutely needless, as for me.
Overall Rating: 5/10
5. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu 銀河英雄伝説 [1988-I] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 110/110)
Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi
The 150-year-long stalemate between the two interstellar superpowers, the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, comes to an end when a new generation of leaders arises: the idealistic military genius Reinhard von Lohengramm, and the FPA's reserved historian, Yang Wenli.
While Reinhard climbs the ranks of the Empire with the aid of his childhood friend, Siegfried Kircheis, he must fight not only the war, but also the remnants of the crumbling Goldenbaum Dynasty in order to free his sister from the Kaiser and unify humanity under one genuine ruler. Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, Yang—a strong supporter of democratic ideals—has to stand firm in his beliefs, despite the struggles of the FPA, and show his pupil, Julian Mintz, that autocracy is not the solution.
As ideologies clash amidst the war's many casualties, the two strategic masterminds must ask themselves what the real reason behind their battle is.
With all the facepalms and rolled eyes on my side this show was still aiming for a firm masterpiece from me. But the horrible open ending killed even that intention. I actually do not recommend watching this show to the end, because the reward will be only frustration. Now for the facepalms. Half of space battles are either "We're twice as numerous, why use tactics at all" or "Let's pierce through their center with all the forces! Why are we surrounded after we pierced through their center with all the forces?". But it can't be repeated more than twice, so there are a lot of stupid moves of other kinds. Like "Damn the whole new fleet appeared from the dead angle and now we're surrounded" or "Enemy steamrolls through left flank , but our genius commander does not know how to counter that and just watches. And then enemy commander gets ill and fight stops". Just what the hell is that, seriously. Lots and lots of loopholes , illogical decisions , unexplained coincidences and profanities of all kinds of guards. I'm pretty mad. But still it's the most epic, vast and complex anime space opera created. There are still a lot of personalities in development and unexpected losses on the way. My advice would be to watch recent remake of beginning of this series and be done with it. I dropped this series somewhere at tenth episode last time I tried to watch it 10+ years ago, and it was an absolutely right decision, surprisingly. Those who puts 10/10 scores are just sorry for the wasted time or have not seen anything more complex in anime. And all the people who drop this series can't put the score, because to evaluate they'd need to watch 100+ rather boring episodes.
Overall Rating: 7/10
6. Dragon's Heaven ドラゴンズヘブン [1988-I] AIC (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
In the year 3195, there was a war between an army of robots and the humans. When Shaian, a sentient combat armor, lost his companion in battle, he shut down until his internal systems spotted a new human. It's now almost a 1000 years later, and Shaian's greatest enemy is still alive and doing battle in Brazil. With a new friend`s help, Shaian may be able to stop this evil force before another war rages over the continent.
Not bad, but super short, like one anime episode long, can't recommend that because of the length.
Overall Rating: 4/10
7. Soukou Kihei Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - Yabou no Roots Armored Trooper Votoms: Red Shoulder Document - Roots of Treachery 装甲騎兵ボトムズ レッドショルダードキュメント野望のルーツ [1988-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mecha, Military Drama, Sci-Fi
After armored trooper pilot Chirico Cuvie is given orders to transfer to Planet Odon, he and all of the other new recruits are sent into a simulated battle to test their abilities. However, this 'simulated battle' turns out to be a serious fight to eliminate those without the necessary skills. Chirico survives along with just three others, despite the fact that he fought while injured. It soon becomes apparent that this is not the first time he has survived against incredible odds, a fact that Colonel Peruzen wishes to exploit. But is Chirico truly immortal?
The best Kihei Votoms seen so far. Finally story is logical and about protagonist instead of messy action about everything at once.
Overall Rating: 5/10
8. Kyoufu no Bio Ningen Saishuu Kyoushi Ultimate Teacher 恐怖のバイオ人間 最終教師 [1988-I] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1)
Tags: School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural
At a run down school the "Ultimate Teacher" Ganpachi is sent to get things back on track and prepare the delinquent students for the real world. But the students don't want Ganpachi ruining the gang they got going so their boss, Hinako, fights back Ganpachi aided by her secret power...her lucky kitty underwear. Things get more interesting when we findout Ganpachi is the result of genetic experiments.
Bakage action about bloomers and pantsu. You won't miss anything by not watching this OVA.
Overall Rating: 5/10
9. Seisenshi Dunbine OVA 聖戦士ダンバイン [1988-I] Sunrise (Finished 3/3)
Tags: Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi
Taking place 700 years after the Dunbine TV Series, "The Tale of Neo Byston Well" revolves around Shion Zaba, the reincarnation of series protagonist Sho Zama. Together with Silkie Mau, Reml Jilfried (the reincarnation of Remile Luft), and the Aura Battler Silbine, Shion must stop a twisted Shot Weapon from launching a custom-made nuclear ICBM missile that's poised to wipe out the realm.
"The Tale of Neo Byston Well" gained praise not only for its upgraded animation but also for using B-CLUB Magazine's popular AURA FANTASM series as the basis for the new Aura Battler designs.
Reincarnation of Dunbine did not impress either.
Overall Rating: 5/10
10. Harbor Light Monogatari: Fashion Lala yori Fashion Lala: The Story of the Harbour Light ハーバーライト物語 ファッションララより [1988-I] Pierrot (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo
A Cinderella story of sorts, Fashion Lala stars a little girl named Miho who doesn't get along with her family. Miho loves to design clothing, but her aunt and three cousins don't believe that such a young girl is capable and mock her designs. Meanwhile, a contest for the new "Disco Queen" is coming up, and Miho wants nothing more than to be able to design a dress for someone to wear to the competition, since she's too young to enter herself. With determination and a little bit of magic, Miho's dreams just might come true!
So some girls dance... nothing comes out of it.
Overall Rating: 4/10
11. Madonna マドンナ [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Delinquents, School, Team Sports, Workplace Comedy, Sports
Mako, a sexy young teacher, comes to Gyunabe high school to enlighten young minds. What she wasn't counting on was a class full of misfits lead by the delinquent Obayashi. If their never ending quest to see her underwear and embarrass her in front of the whole school doesn't force her to quit, then her principal's brilliant idea of making her the new rugby coach will.
First episode is teacher being molested by delinquents, second is after miraculous shift of attitude coaching them in rugby. Imho, more harm than anything else.
Overall Rating: 4/10
12. Xanadu Dragonslayer Densetsu ザナドウ・ドラゴンスレイヤー伝説 [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Based on the role-playing game "Legend of Xanadu". The evil magician Reichswar has killed the King to gain possession of a magic crystal; now he means to use its power to rule the whole of Xanadu. Then the widowed Queen Rieru is kidnapped. One brave young warrior, wielding the magic blade Dragonslayer, goes to her rescue.
Was a surprise for me that beginning is in mechanized future, but in couple minutes shifts to fantasy and hero kinda loses memory. As just the second fantasy title, concept is simple and straightforward - search for legendary sword together with a princess who gets soon kidnapped, and rescuing her is all the 50 mins length is enough for.
Overall Rating: 5/10
13. Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack 機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア [1988-I] Sunrise (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi
The year is Universal Century 0093. Char Aznable has taken command of Neo Zeon, the rebels of outer space. He firmly believes that humankind can only achieve peace by relocating to space. Thus, he plans to crash the giant asteroid Axis into Earth and plunge the planet into an uninhabitable winter. Char also eagerly anticipates this opportunity to settle a 14-year rivalry with Amuro Ray. The two have been reluctant allies at times, but Char has never forgiven Amuro for causing the death of one of his comrades during the One Year War.
Only the Earth Federation's Londo Bell Unit has the power to stop Char from fulfilling his dangerous goal. Leading the defense of Earth is veteran captain Bright Noa and Amuro Ray with the latest Nu Gundam mobile suit. In this thrilling conclusion to the original Gundam series, Londo Bell engages in a final conflict with Neo Zeon that will decide the fate of Earth and end this long-standing rivalry—once and for all.
Well, I tried.
Overall Rating: 5/10
14. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Waga Yuku wa Hoshi no Taikai Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars 銀河英雄伝説: わが征くは星の大海 [1988-I] Kitty Film Mitaka Studio (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi
Four months before Count von Lohengramm of the Galactic Empire faced Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance at the Battle of Astarte, he was still just Reinhard von Müsel. The youngest admiral in the Empire's history, Reinhard was disdained and dismissed by his peers as the brother of the Kaiser's concubine.
Upon arriving at Iserlohn Fortress with his expeditionary fleet, Reinhard immediately receives an order from the ambitious and cunning Fleet Admiral Gregor von Mückenberger: to intercept an Alliance fleet in a neighboring starzone. Despite recognizing this as a veiled attempt to get him killed in combat, Reinhard nevertheless orders his tired and weary men to engage the enemy in the atmosphere of the gas giant Legnica. But unbeknownst to him, this will mark the first of his many historic encounters with the Hero of El Facil.
Nothing really new. With recent remake of the beginning, this movie is obsolete.
Overall Rating: 5/10
15. Maison Ikkoku: Kanketsu-hen めぞん一刻 完結篇 [1988-I] Ajia-Do (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance
The Maison Ikkoku tennants throw a party to celebrate the marriage of Yuusaku and Kyouko. However, during the party Yuusaku hears that Kyouko is waiting for a letter. He becomes jealous and begins to doubt Kyouko, worrying that she still loves someone else. When the morning arrives, the answer to his worries is revealed...
I value the show mostly for comedy, but as the last episode it has to tackle more with serious things wrapping up some loose ends. Very nice, as expected.
Overall Rating: 6/10
16. Urusei Yatsura Movie 5: Kanketsu-hen うる星やつら 完結篇 [1988-I] Magic Bus (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The Urusei Yatsura story comes to a climax in this animated retelling of the final Manga story (although not the final movie). Lupa, yet another one of Lum's fiancés, arrives on the scene, and Lum and Ataru have to repeat their game of tag in order to prevent the Earth from being destroyed.
All Ataru has to do to win is say "I love you" the three words he has steadfastly refused to say to Lum. Will he admit his true feelings and save the Earth? Or will his pride doom it to destruction?
What a mess. Let's make a twin and repeat the confusion over and over and over and over and over again. Horrible end of the series.
Overall Rating: 5/10
17. Lady Lady!! (1988) レディレディ!! (1988) [1988-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Drama
When Rin's mother dies, she makes the promise that some day she will become a Lady, and travels to England to meet the rest of the family. She is not very welcomed (specially at the start by her stepsister Sara), but after some time they are all a happy family. Rin (Lynn) is also very interested in horses and racing, and she wins a nice share of contests.
This series is divided into two parts, first with Rin being really a child, and the second with her being around 13.
The whole recap of kid Lynn only takes some 25 mins... fulfils its role as recap and confirms that there was not much substantial content in first season.
Overall Rating: 5/10
18. City Hunter 2 シティーハンター2 [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 5/63)
Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery
Ryo Saeba is a "sweeper" know as the City Hunter. He and his sidekick Kaori Makimura are hired to solve problems that the police can't (or won't) handle. When he's not keeping the streets of Tokyo clean, Ryo is chasing the ladies, and Kaori chases after him with a giant anti-ecchi hammer.
It's become a bit better, and it seems to be coming a bit close to EVE Burst Error concept, but not sure it will ever be there . So far, still no desire to watch it further.
Overall Rating: 5/10
19. Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Ronin Warriors 鎧伝サムライトルーパー [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/39)
Tags: Shounen Samurai Adventure, Sci-Fi
Thousands of years ago, the evil emperor Talpa attempted to conquer the Earth. Defeated, he was banished to the Nether Realm and his armor was divided into 9 separate suits. Now, he has returned to conquer Earth, having reclaimed 4 of the suits. The other 5 are in the possesion of those who are the only hope of stopping him: The Ronin Warriors.
Concept is pretty close to that of power rangers. Add to that that five heroes are very young, probably just entered middle school, and the score would become evident.
Overall Rating: 4/10
20. Hello! Lady Lynn ハロー! レディリン [1988-I] Toei Animation (Dropped 0/36)
Tags: Shoujo Drama
This is the second series of Lady Lady. Every year at Lynn's school, an honorable “Lady Quest” is given to the most sophisticated lady. Lynn strives to receive this honor.
Not translated, and I'm not going to watch untranslated Shoujo.
Overall Rating: 0/10
21. F Ｆ-エフ [1988-II] Studio Deen (Dropped 3/31)
Tags: Shounen Racing
Gunma Akagi, a teenager from the countryside, frequently causes a ruckus with his turbocharged tractor, much to the chagrin of his father, aspiring politician Souichirou Akagi, who urges the family to set a good example to ensure his success.
One night, while Gunma is driving his tractor on the highway with his best friend Tamotsu Oishi, the two are suddenly overtaken by a speeding car. Gunma interprets this as a challenge and tries to outpace his opponent, only to fail in a spectacular fashion. The defeat sparks a fire within him, and Gunma becomes determined to win against this mysterious foe at all costs. Soon after, he leaves the peaceful countryside behind and moves to the bustling city, aiming to become the next Formula One star!
I'm not sure what kind of racing I can liked. This one is pretty straightforward F1 racing with a mouthful redneck as protagonist, and no quantity of comedy can mend an anime with a poor protagonist and weak concept.
Overall Rating: 4/10
22. Transformers: Choujin Master Force Transformers Super-God Masterforce トランスフォーマー・超神マスターフォース [1988-II] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/43)
Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi
Even though the Decepticons have been driven off Earth, a small team of Autobot Pretenders have remained behind, just in case. Led by Metalhawk ("Hawk" in his human identity), the Pretenders live among the humans, using their Pretender shells to assume human size and appearance. The Autobots' caution is rewarded: Decepticon Pretenders soon appear, led by a mysterious force called Devil Z. The Autobots and Decepticons soon build up their forces, recruiting humans to become Junior Headmasters and Godmasters (Powermasters).
Of course I sampled it, but it has not become better since my childhood.
Overall Rating: 4/10
23. Chouon Senshi Borgman 超音戦士ボーグマン [1988-II] Production Reed (Dropped 3/35)
Tags: Mythology Action, Sci-Fi
Sonic Soldier Borgman is a science fiction that combines super sentai with non-gattai. It features a sentai-like three members team that fight an organization known as Youma. Features three characters with three basic ranger colors: Pink, Blue and Green. Featuring three main characters: Chuck, Ryo and Anise, Ryo is the leader, Chuck and Anise are teachers at a public school. Sometimes, the students help or make troubles to the Borgman somehow, some even know the Borgman secret identities. Ryo has a talking "modern" blue motorcycle that can upgrade itself. The transformation code is "Borg. Get On". Each member has a personal cannon that matches his/her armor color that appears only to finish the monster they fight.
Adult cast is the only advantage of this sentai anime. Otherwise pretty standard and simple with evil emperor ec.
Overall Rating: 5/10
24. Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru 魔神英雄伝ワタル [1988-II] Sunrise (Dropped 3/43)
Tags: Shounen Mecha Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
A 9-year-old boy named Wataru Ikusabe is magically transported to a magical realm of the gods called Soukaizan which he is supposed to save. In his quest to save the realm, he manages to transform a clay sculpture into a somewhat autonomous (small) Super Robot.
Mecha positions are still strong, but fantasy advances... so it's another weird example of mecha in fantasy world of swordfights. The distinguishing feature of anime is chibi SD designs of almost everything including enemies and robots. It looked a lot like Dragon Ball copycat to me, but with appearance of Himiko that looks almost exactly like Bluma, it became evident. Even round pearl is used as weapon. Basically, Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru is Dragon Ball like experience with more parody and antics as Sunrise signature. Personally, I like Dragon Ball humor more.
Overall Rating: 5/10
25. Moeru! Oniisan The Burning Wild Man 燃える！お兄さん [1988-II] Pierrot (Dropped 3/24)
Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy
When Kenichi Kokuho was a small boy, he was lost in the mountains and never found. However, unknown to anyone, Kenichi has been brought up by his foster father in the wild. When Kenichi becomes 15 years old, his foster father tells him the truth about his background. As he finds out, Kenichi decides to go to a civilized society where his parents live.
Everything Kenichi experiences in the town is a series of surprise and wonder. His family is delighted to see their son alive, but shocked at the fact that he has become wild and different from other children. And now, his new life is about to begin.
His wild attitude and physical toughness cause various problems in the town. Kenichi has his own way to handle things, but it is too different for the most people to understand what he is up to. Can he get used to life in the town?
There was already a more charismatic old anime about a wild boy coming to town. I see this anime as comedy slot filler as without normal story there's yet another episodic setting to exploit. Comedy is ok.
Overall Rating: 5/10
26. What's Michael? (TV) ホワッツマイケル? [1988-II] Daume (Finished 0/45)
Tags: Pets Comedy
Michael is a fat orange cat who lives with a pair of well-meaning but very stupid humans who fondly imagine he is their pet. But Michael's own daily life is rich in all kinds of little incidents and upheavals-avoiding local bad cat Nyazilla, a monster against whom Michael knows he'll always come out worse, scrounging food from local stores, meeting up with his animal friends, and keeping the humans amused as best he can. And Michael also has a fantasy life even his fellow feline Garfield would envy, with cat corporations, cat nightclubs, and his own imitation of a dancing American megastar also called Michael.
Not translated, so why would I suffer. By OVA we all know what it is about.
Overall Rating: 0/10
27. Doctor Chichibuyama ドクター秩父山 [1988-II] Production Reed (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Seinen Parody Comedy, Ecchi
Dr. Chichibuyama is the perverse head of a hospital way out in the mountains and terrorizes patients with the help of his lover and a sexy young nurse.
Not translated it seems, a least to English. Ecchi gag comedy about doctor describes it pretty well. Each episode is about a dozen of short sketches as if just jumped from manga strip. OK'ish.
Overall Rating: 4/10
28. Ikinari Dagon いきなりダゴン [1988-II] Nippon Animation (Dropped 3/12)
Tags: Adventure, Fantasy
Dagon's little rocket crashes into a beautiful, blue planet and lands on a bed of green weeds. He quickly becomes friends with all kinds of creatures: Zipzap Mantis, General Ant Garibaldi, Andy Ant, Doctor Marilyn Wasp, and many more. Needless to say they are all insects. Insects? Yes, Dagon is only one centimetre tall!
The tiny residents of the land of weeds become curious about the identity of this stranger from another planet. But when Dagon saves them from the danger posed by their ferocious enemies, Gulpo Toad and Godzi Lizard, everyone thinks Dagon is a SUPER-BUG!
This planet is also home to a number of creatures that are very terrifying to these little fellows. They are called the Sapiens, or the human beings. Dagon must confront these massive creatures in order to get his rocket back from them!
So begins Dagon's funny and thrilling adventure on Earth...
Not translated. It feels very similar to the previous series about bees as it's all about insects and toads, and there's constant need to save some insects like bees from toads... can't call it fun at all.
Overall Rating: 4/10
29. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor Patlabor: The Mobile Police 機動警察パトレイバー [1988-II] Studio Deen (Finished 7/7)
Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi
As the human race evolves, so does its technology. Engineers have successfully created robots dubbed "Labors" for mass distribution, utilized by society for a number of everyday tasks. However, there are criminals who manage to get their hands on these Labors, using them for their own nefarious means.
To combat this new form of delinquency, police around the world begin using "Patrol Labors" or "Patlabors" to put a stop to Labor-related crimes. Rookie police officer Noa Izumi is drafted into a special Patlabor unit, getting her own mechanical suit to fight crime. Naming this machine Alphonse, Izumi works tirelessly alongside her peers to keep civilization safe from those who would use this advanced technology to harm others.
As Izumi becomes further ingrained within her unit, she must also learn how to navigate both her social and professional spheres with grace and wit. She befriends the aloof Asuma Shinohara, fellow pilot Isao Oota, and the other members of her brigade as she helps them to combat conspiratorial plots, workplace revolts, and supernatural beings.
What a mess. Why mecha police action is mostly about genetics and ghost incidents. First four episodes are absolutely horrible chaotic comedy stories with open endings, by 5th episode they remember that the ending is close, so introduce serious episodes suddenly to fix impression. Bigger half of episodes is a mess, try better in a movie.
Overall Rating: 5/10
30. Appleseed アップル・シード [1988-II] Gainax (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Detective, Mecha Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Appleseed takes place in the aftermath of World War III, where the General Management Control Office has constructed the experimental city known as Olympus. Built to be a paradise on Earth, Olympus is inhabited by humans, cyborgs, and bioroids (genetically engineered humans designed for increased physical capabilities and decreased emotional capabilities). Bioroids run and control all of the administrative functions of Olympus, ensuring that the city remains the utopian society it was meant to be for all of its citizens. But for some people living in Utopia, the city has become less of a home and more of a cage.
Police officer Calon Mautholos has grown to despise Olympus following his wife's suicide, blaming her death on the lack of creative freedom caused by the rules binding the citizens of the city. As his hatred for the city grows, Calon conspires with the terrorist A.J. Sebastian to destroy the Legislature of the Central Management Bureau to send the rules of Olympus that killed his wife tumbling down. But when Calon discovers it is not political malcontent, but rather hatred for bioroids that motives Sebastian, Calon turns renegade and gains the attention of city officials. Deunan Knute and her partner Briareos of the ESWAT counter-terrorism unit are dispatched to hunt down and stop Calon and Sebastian... by any means necessary!
Good setting setter, but as a story... too little.
Overall Rating: 6/10
31. Dominion ドミニオン [1988-II] Agent 21 (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Detective, Mecha Comedy, Sci-Fi
Leona Ozaki joins Newport City's infamous Tank Police division. With aid of Al and her newly built mini-tank, Bonaparte, she wages war on Buaku and his cohorts, the Puma Sisters.
Wow, third anime about mechanized police in a row. Not bad overall, but the fact that police tries to catch same three bandits (plus a new one from the 3rd ep) blowing everything around each time makes all leftover seriousness obsolete. Oh, and torture is not fun. In any way .
Overall Rating: 4/10
32. Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody プロジェクトA子3 シンデレララプソディ [1988-II] Studio Fantasia (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mecha, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
In the middle of another break from school, A-Ko dreams of finding the perfect boyfriend. Because of this, she and C-Ko get into an argument that leads to C-Ko running away and nearly getting hit by a motorcyclist named Kei. While working part-time at a fast-food restaurant to raise money for a party dress, A-Ko meets Kei and immediately falls in love with him. B-Ko happens to like him as well; however, both A-Ko and B-Ko are unaware that C-Ko is the apple of Kei's eyes.
Don't know how they manage to do it, but with every new movie it gets only worse.
Overall Rating: 4/10
33. Kujakuou Spirit Warrior 孔雀王 [1988-II] AIC (Finished 3/3)
Tags: Mythology Action, Horror
A young mystic without a past, Kujaku was born under a dark omen possessed of incredible supernatural powers. Raised by priests, he has learned to use these powers for good. But the evil Siegfried von Mittgard seeks to steal his birthright, and rule the world as the Regent of Darkness. He has dispatched bloodthirsty minions to destroy Kujaku before he can awaken to his destiny. Now, Kujaku must unravel the riddle of his past, before the power within consumes him!
Just action about magical martial artists. Definitely not for everyone.
Overall Rating: 5/10
34. Tokyo Vice The Tokyo Project トウキョウ・バイス [1988-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mecha Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
One night at a rock concert, a mysterious man dies while leaving a floppy disc with a member of the Rutz Detective Agency. Soon they realize the disk contains information about a deadly new weapon under development. The heroes become involved in a game of political subterfuge and military espionage, hot on the trail of the killer!
Super boring detective action...
Overall Rating: 5/10
35. Antique Heart アンティーク ハート [1988-II] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1)
Tags: School Mystery
There's an old decrepit building at the edge of the school grounds that hasn't been used for years, and it falls apart a little bit more each day. But the little house holds a secret, as Takahiro and his friends are soon to find out...they wind up making contact with a mysterious entity known as Saki. Can Takahiro save Saki's world from destruction.
Not translated. There's not much more than saving the old school building where ghost lives.
Overall Rating: 4/10
36. Akai Koudan Zillion: Utahime Yakyoku Zillion: Burning Nigh 赤い光弾ジリオン 歌姫夜曲 [1988-II] Production I.G (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the peaceful aftermath of the Nozsa wars, the charismatic heroes known as "The White Knights" have changed career paths to becoming music making rockstars. J.J., Dave, Champ and Apple have formed a rock band called, "The White Nuts". Their music career would soon be interrupted by a new threat of colonial settlers. Apple is kidnapped by the sadistic ODAMA Clan - a family of ruthless killers. Located in a heavily-fortified mountain retreat, J.J. and company attempt a rescue mission with their laser weapon Zillion. But the former Knights only have a limited supply of Zillium for the Zillion guns. A mysterious stranger named Rick turns out to be an old lover of Apple.
My recollections of the first three episodes fit poorly with the inner conflict of this OVA, guess only for franchise fans.
Overall Rating: 5/10
37. Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu 麻雀飛翔伝 哭きの竜 [1988-II] Gainax, Magic Bus (Finished 3/3)
Tags: Seinen Organized Crime, Strategy Game Action, Drama
The protagonist, Ryuu or Crying Dragon, is a mysterious man who often plays games with the gang members. He only wins by "ron," a move in which one needs to wait for the opponent's tile to complete the win.
*"Ron" is also called "naki" in mahjong, which has the same pronunciation as "crying" in Japanese
Not translated. Given that I don't understand a thing in Mahjong, watching Ryuu finishing with Ron and yakuza getting killed afterwards was not a fun thing at all..
Overall Rating: 4/10
38. Rokushin Gattai GodMars: Juunana-sai no Densetsu 六神合体ゴッドマーズ 十七歳の伝説 [1988-II] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi
Marg was deprived his little brother, Mars, by Zure, and lost his parents. Therefore, he was living alone on the planet, Gishin. He became a member of guerrilla to riot against the dictator Zure, and he fell in love with Ruru, the daughter of the leader, Ura. However, the organization was destroyed. He was trapped by Zure, and he was brainwashed to become a soldier. Then, his long cherished wish that he would meet his brother again was realized… as a duel with him.
Gaia, God Mars, and the Gishin robot Zeron receive redesigns although the OVA mostly focuses on an alternate telling of Marg's life on Gishin up until the events of episode 19.
Since it focuses on alternative ending there's nothing to do here without finishing TV series.
Overall Rating: 4/10
39. Abe George Kattobi Seishun Ki: Shibuya Honky Tonk 安部譲二かっとび青春記 渋谷ホンキィトンク [1988-II] Tokuma Japan (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Drama, Ecchi
This story is based on one of the famous Japanese writers "George Abe"'s troubled boyhood. Although he was born in wealthy family, he starts keeping company with yakuza...
Protagonist is participating in risky yakuza activities and having fun with a lot of women in between. Nothing original here .
Overall Rating: 4/10
40. Zukkoke Sannin-gumi: Zukkoke Jikuu Bouken ズッコケ三人組 ズッコケ時空冒険 [1988-II] Tama Production (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Comedy, Sci-Fi
Three reporters from the school paper get transported back to the Edo period.
Not translated. There seems to also untranslated series later on. 40% is school life before time travel, and all that's there to do in the remaining time is get to past, get some adventures and get back while getting explanation from time patrol member. Not great.
Overall Rating: 4/10
41. Tonari no Totoro My Neighbor Totoro となりのトトロ [1988-II] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Supernatural
In 1950s Japan, Tatsuo Kusakabe relocates himself and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, to the countryside to be closer to their mother, who is hospitalized due to long-term illness. As the girls grow acquainted with rural life, Mei encounters a small, bunny-like creature in the yard one day. Chasing it into the forest, she finds "Totoro"—a giant, mystical forest spirit whom she soon befriends. Before long, Satsuki too meets Totoro, and the two girls suddenly find their lives filled with magical adventures in nature and fantastical creatures of the wood
Watched it for the second time now and got a clear impression that it's only for kids. I can acknowledge music, impact and visualization of myths, but can't say I enjoyed it now after a lot of years.
Overall Rating: 7/10
42. Hotaru no Haka Grave of the Fireflies 火垂るの墓 [1988-II] Studio Ghibli (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
As World War II reaches its conclusion in 1945, Japan faces widespread destruction in the form of American bombings, devastating city after city. Hotaru no Haka, also known as Grave of the Fireflies, is the story of Seita and his sister Setsuko, two Japanese children whose lives are ravaged by the brutal war. They have lost their mother, their father, their home, and the prospect of a bright future—all tragic consequences of the war.
Now orphaned and homeless, Seita and Setsuko have no choice but to drift across the countryside, beset by starvation and disease. Met with the apathy of adults along the way, they find that desperate circumstances can turn even the kindest of people cruel yet their youthful hope shines brightly in the face of unrelenting hardship, preventing the siblings from swiftly succumbing to an inevitable fate.
Gen did a lot of things right, but the impact was still on detonation, although detonation counted mere percentage of victims. Also we as viewers never got to like the people who die, even Gen family members. Grave of the Fireflies basically uses a more psychological approach to hit in the most painful pressure points of viewers. Painful, but important and meaningful.
Overall Rating: 8/10
43. Tekken Chinmi Iron Fist Chinmi 鉄拳チンミ [1988-III] Production Reed (Dropped 3/20)
Tags: Shounen Historical, Martial Arts
Chinmi is a young Chinese boy devoted to martial arts training. Word of his skill reaches the kung-fu masters at the famous Dailin temple who invite him to study with them. Through his own dedication and the guidance of his teachers, Chinmi becomes one of the top students at the temple. Eventually, the time comes for him to leave Dailin and make a pilgrimage. On his journey he faces a number of dangers that test his skills, but he also meets many people who inspire him in different ways. A chastened but determined Chinmi returns to Dailin for advanced training. But soon his skills are needed again—the Mongol hordes are nearing the temple.
Not translated. Another wanna be Dragon ball as there is a super strong martial artist, companions including a girl and significant tilt into comedy. Another imitator Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru looked better than this one.
Overall Rating: 5/10
44. Kyuuketsuhime Miyu Vampire Princess Miyu 吸血姫美夕 [1988-III] AIC (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Vampire Action, Drama, Horror
A quiet gothic horror story about a vampire girl, Miyu, whose destiny it is to hunt down murderous demons known as Shinma and return them to their land of origin, the Dark. Miyu is pursued by the Spiritualist Himiko, determined to find out who Miyu is and to stop her from sucking the life blood from helpless humans. Each of the four episodes chronicle one of Miyu's encounters with a Shinma and the humans that it is affecting, from the perspective of Himiko's pursuit of Miyu.
I don't like horrors and vampires in general as a thing. There's a spiritualist who never faced anything supernatural, a good mysterious vampire princess Miyu and different baddie each time, usually vampire, but not only vampires. All the dark colors , malicious intents and violence make it almost unwatchable for me.
Overall Rating: 4/10
45. Deimos no Hanayome: Ran no Kumikyoku 悪魔の花嫁 蘭の組曲 [1988-III] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Mythology, Psychological Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural
Two siblings were happy on Mt. Olympus, until they fell in love. Deimo's sister Venus got imprisoned in the Swamp of Death. To save Venus's life, he must find a human reincarnation so that they can continue their love.
Another horror mystery shoujo with dominating red and black colors. It feels very bad for me .
Overall Rating: 4/10
46. Ace wo Nerae! 2 エースをねらえ！２ [1988-III] TMS Entertainment (Dropped 3/13)
Tags: Shoujo Drama, Sports
Three years has passed since the events of the first series. Hiromi continued training with her coach and became Japan's junior champion. Their common profits have also contributed to the coach being chosen as the first trainer of the Japanese Selection of Tennis and is arranged to head a trip with the youngest members of the team to USA. The relation between Hiromi and its trainer is narrower at personal level but it exceeds the teacher-student bond with great difficulty.
Good to see sequel of the first real shoujo, Oba is a junior champion, but still can't beat Miss Butterfly and still can't find common language with coach, so show tries to exploit old paths. Guess only for those who did not have enough of Ace wo Nerae.
Overall Rating: 5/10
47. Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu 小助さま力丸さま-コンペイ島の竜- [1988-III] J.C.Staff (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure
Kosukesama Rikimarusama: Konpeito no Ryu was a 45 minute long anime TV special produced by J.C. Staff and broadcast on Japanese television in 1988. Similar to Dragon Ball, it was a martial arts adventure story featuring villains that could have stepped out of the Red Ribbon Army, typical Toriyama mecha, and a clone of Son Gohan's Haiya Dragon.
This is indeed a clone up to small details. Not as good as original, but humor is good and characters are nice, so why not.
Overall Rating: 5/10
48. Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi Watt Poe ワット・ボーとぼくらのお話 [1988-III] Kaname Productions (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Jam lives in a small coastal village that lives off fish that men bring home every day. One day his grandfather tells him that in recent year the fishing has been scarce. The steel hawks who live nearby on the mountain have kidnapped Watt Poe, a narwhal who is said to be the great protector of the sea, thus depriving the fishermen of his blessing. The boy decides to climb the mountain with the intention of bringing Watt Poe back to the sea...
Story gets seriously more complicated than just climbing a mountain, but it's still rather average action adventure.
Overall Rating: 5/10
49. Gensei Shugoshin P-hyoro Ikka OVA 現世守護神ぴーひょろ一家 OVA [1988-III] Bandai Visual (Finished 3/3)
Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Fantasy
Based on Kaori Kimeki's fantasy manga serialized in "Princess" magazine.
Main quiestion for me was why it is called shoujo at all. The reason is that protagonists are pictured in shoujo style, 4th sibling is actually a brow-haired girl, and problems arising are shoujo-themed if I can say so. Overall, just some youkai cases.
Overall Rating: 5/10
50. Touyama Sakura Uchuu Chou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold Samurai Gold 遠山桜宇宙帖・奴の名はゴールド [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Action, Sci-Fi
This science-fiction anime was inspired somewhat by the life of Kinshiro Toyama (1793-1855), who was first popularized in the 1893 kabuki play "Toyama no Kinsan."
Protagonist is a samurai with a laser sword. Assassins are being sent after him, and through that he unmasks a big conspiracy. But with current super blurry hardsubs anime is almost unwatchable due to eye pain.
Overall Rating: 5/10
51. Namakemono ga Miteta ナマケモノが見てた [1988-III] Agent 21 (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Seinen Comedy
Based off a manga by Murakami Takashi that was serialized in Weekly Young Jump.
Not translated. This is a rapid-fire series of gags and comedic skits with an all-animal cast. It's really not fun to watch gag comedy without translation, but among this genre representatives current anime is rather average.
Overall Rating: 5/10
52. Akira AKIRA（アキラ） [1988-III] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Gore, Military
Japan, 1988. An explosion caused by a young boy with psychic powers tears through the city of Tokyo and ignites the fuse that leads to World War III. In order to prevent any further destruction, he is captured and taken into custody, never to be heard from again. Now, in the year 2019, a restored version of the city known as Neo-Tokyo—an area rife with gang violence and terrorism against the current government—stands in its place. Here, Shoutarou Kaneda leads "the Capsules," a group of misfits known for riding large, custom motorcycles and being in constant conflict with their rivals "the Clowns."
During one of these battles, Shoutarou's best friend Tetsuo Shima is caught up in an accident with an esper who finds himself in the streets of Tokyo after escaping confinement from a government institution. Through this encounter, Tetsuo begins to develop his own mysterious abilities, as the government seeks to quarantine this latest psychic in a desperate attempt to prevent him from unleashing the destructive power that could once again bring the city to its knees.
I can be subjective towards Cyberpunk, but yeah, this is a firm masterpiece for me. I watched it just couple years ago, but I managed to forget how many characters and lines there are here. Akira is wonderfully done visually, very rich animation that is probably not possible today already. It has genius visual moves. Despite Tetsuo having not the most stable personality, there are a lot of absolutely serious , rational and and intelligent characters here. The pace of this anime is twice higher than the average one. It's also a very bitter story about revolution and corruption. Most importantly, Akira is the first representative of half sane, half crazy settings of 1990s in contrast to just avangardist insanity seen before already , e.g. Neo Tokyo . The only remaining question is why not higher score - the answer is because it should deliver real intellectual pleasure for it. Great experience nonetheless - and that's what matters .
Overall Rating: 8/10
53. Dragon Ball Movie 3: Makafushigi Daibouken ドラゴンボール 摩訶不思議大冒険 [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Emperor Chiaotzu's wife has gone missing, and he is told by Master Shen that if he collects the seven dragon balls he can call upon the eternal dragon and wish for her return. Meanwhile, Goku and Krillin attend the World Martial Arts Tournament, which is hosted by the Emperor; Bora and his son Upa attempt to hide the dragon ball they found from the emperor's forces, which are under the control of the evil Shen and General Tao; and Bulma conducts her own search for the dragon balls with the help of Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong.
Another 40 minutes with mostly parodies. It's all very weird and unintegral.
Overall Rating: 5/10
54. Sakigake!! Otokojuku Movie Charge!! Men's Private School 魁!!男塾 [1988-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Delinquents, Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy
Otokojuku, a private school for juvenile delinquents that were previously expelled from normal schools. At this school, Japanese chivalry is taught through the feudal and military fundamentals. Similar to an action film, the classes are overwhelmed by violence. Only those who survive it become true men.
I like only humor in Sakigake and hoped for humorous movie. Instead, it's one competition arc with lots of fights, survival, action and really little humor. The result is evident.
Overall Rating: 5/10
55. Hi no Ame ga Furu 火の雨がふる [1988-III] Mushi Production (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
An anti-war anime based on a book containing contemporary accounts of the fire-bombing of the city of Fukuoka on the evening of June 19, 1945.
Not translated. Style is very similar to Gen. Fukuoka had only conventional bombing, so anime tries to go the way of Graveyard of Fireflies by presenting a friendship in development and finishes with the bombing that causes very few casualties in the aime. A lot less impact than both previous titles.
Overall Rating: 5/10
56. Shirahata no Shoujo Ryuuko 白旗の少女 琉子 [1988-III] Magic Bus (Dropped 0/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
In 1945, American troops land on the island of Okinawa. The Japanese fight a guerrilla war against the invaders, and little Ryuko is forced to leave her grandparents behind and flee with her mother and younger sister, who are eventually killed. Ryuko heads on alone across the war-torn island. Eventually she reaches safety in Japanese-occupied caves, only to witness the Japanese troops committing suicide with hand grenades. Based on a children's book by Akira Aratagawa and Hikuji Norima, itself inspired by real American footage of an Okinawan girl, Tomiko Higa, waving a white flag at the island's surrender.
Not found.
Overall Rating: 0/10
57. Natsufuku no Shoujo-tachi 夏服の少女たち [1988-III] Madhouse (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
In 1945, the second and third-year students of a Hiroshima girls' school are taken away to work in war factories. The remaining 220 girls of the first year try to make the best of their new-found status as the only teenagers in an almost deserted town, even amid the deprivations of wartime. On the 7th of August, an American bomber changes their lives forever. Broadcast on the 43rd anniversary of Hiroshima in memory of "the girls who lost their lives to the atom bomb."
Not translated. First minutes of anime is live action with explanation right away that girls died while clearing debris when building demolished above them. During the course of 34 minutes animated strips of girls life is interrupted by live action even with interview several more times. Too short and unintegral to recomend.
Overall Rating: 5/10
58. Oishinbo 美味しんぼ [1988-IV] Shin-Ei Animation (Dropped 3/136)
Tags: Seinen Comedy, Gourmet, Slice of Life
Oishinbo is a drama about newspaper reporters. The main character is a cynical food critic named Yamaoka. Oishinbo is a popular mainstream comic for adults in Japan. It is even mentioned in an episode of "Iron Chef."
Ajikko had a success last year, so why not to shoot another culinary show. Oishinbo is only food for the goofy unfocused protagonist, but Ajikko is better in all other fields .
Overall Rating: 5/10
59. 3 Choume no Tama: Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka? Tama of Third Street: Have You Seen My Tama? 3丁目のタマ うちのタマ知りませんか? [1988-IV] Group TAC (Dropped 3/36)
Tags: Pets Adventure
The characters are Tama, Momo, Wocket, Tiggle, Rockney, Pimmy, Bupkus, Bengpu, and Chopin. There is no consistent plot. Tama and his friends just have little, family friendly, adventures every episode. The only consistency is when a new friend is made one episode and flash backs.
The only question I have is why it is not marked as kids show... I guess, it's because there are also kids who even go to school with pets, but pets are still main characters, and it's still a kids show.
Overall Rating: 5/10
60. Himitsu no Akko-chan 2 ひみつのアッコちゃん２ [1988-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo School
Akko-chan is a bright and energetic 5th grader in elementary school whose father is a newscaster and mother is a picture-book writer. Akko always cherishes the palm-sized mirror that was given to her by her father and treats it with care. However, the mirror was accidentally broken by her absent-minded mother. On a night where a beautiful full-moon hangs in the sky, Akko-chan buries the mirror pieces in the garden and goes to sleep. She is awakened by a soft and kind voice which belongs to the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom. She sends her gratitiude to Akko-chan for cherishing the mirror with care and offers her a magical compact mirror. Whenever she sings the magical words, Akko-chan will be able to transform into anything she wants.
1960s had so many nice magical girl series, but Himitsu no Akko-chan was not one of them even then, so why this one gets a sequel... just heavy exploitation of magical mirror to change image constantly to create supposed to be funny situations.
Overall Rating: 4/10
61. Hai! Akko Desu ハーイあっこです [1988-IV] Eiken (Finished 0/164)
Tags: Romance, Slice of Life
The story follows the daily life of a Akko-chan who is a new young wife.
Not found.
Overall Rating: 0/10
62. Meimon! Daisan Yakyuubu Meimon! The Third Baseball Club 名門！第三野球部 [1988-IV] Fuji TV (Dropped 1/40)
Tags: Shounen Action, Sports
Asunaro is a new student at a school with three baseball teams; the first is renowned as being one of the best in the prefecture, but the third, Asunaro’s team, is filled with the rejects and unskilled of the baseball world. As the baseball instructor deems them to be nothing but trash, he informs the team that they will be disbanded in one month – that is, until one of the players begs him to let them play a single game. They’ll be up against the first team, and if they win, they’ll get to take over the title and even work their way towards playing at Koshien Stadium. With the help of Kaido, an ex-member of the first team, Asunaro and his friends will do whatever it takes to show they’re more than meets the eye!
Just one episode seems to be translated. Another story of losers trying hard to beat the ace team.
Overall Rating: 5/10
63. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster Gunbuster トップをねらえ！ GunBuster [1988-IV] Gainax (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military, Space Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
In the near future, humanity has taken its first steps towards journeying into the far reaches of the galaxy. Upon doing so they discover a huge race of insectoid aliens known as "Space Monsters." These aliens seem dedicated to the eradication of mankind as they near closer and closer to discovering Earth. In response, humanity develops giant fighting robots piloted by hand-picked youth from around the world.
Shortly after the discovery of the aliens, Noriko Takaya, the daughter of a famous deceased space captain, enters a training school despite her questionable talents as a pilot. There, she meets her polar opposite, the beautiful and talented Kazumi Amano, and is unexpectedly made to work together with her as they attempt to overcome the trauma of war as well as their own emotions.
Gainax are great experimentators. Could you ever imagine a shounen with all-girl cast with a coach? And it's definitely closer to shounen than shoujo even with the inner female protagonist. For a long time I thought that I could not enjoy mecha because of all the seriousness, e.g. lack of non-antics comedy and fan-service. This is finally mecha with human face, enough nice humor, drama and fan-service. Thanks to this show we got Evangelion and Gurren Lagann and not thanks to two decades of tasteless bland mecha. I was able to enjoy Gunbuster to an extent, but not as a masterpiece .
Overall Rating: 6/10
64. Makai Toshi Shinjuku Demon City Shinjuku 魔界都市〈新宿〉 [1988-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Gore Adventure, Horror, Romance, Supernatural
Kyoya's father was a great warrior, killed at the hands of the diabolical psychic, Rebi Ra, who has now opened a portal to hell in the city of Shinjuku. It falls to Kyoya to finish what his father started and battle his way through demons, while protecting a young woman from harm. The only problem is that he's not exactly your classic hero type, and his powers are still latent.
I expected a lot more from Madhouse OVA. Lots of one tone backgrounds, reddish colors , enemies showing up right from walls or from the ground, not impressive plot. Just can't recommend this.
Overall Rating: 4/10
65. Crying Freeman Cryingフリーマン [1988-IV] Toei Animation (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Seinen Detective, Martial Arts, Organized Crime Action, Drama, Romance
Yo Hinomura was an ordinary Japanese potter when a run-in with a Chinese mafia changed his life forever. Now an assassin for the 108 Dragons, Yo is the perfect killing machine. As a sign for remorse over his victims, he sheds tears after eliminating his targets. Because of this, he is infamously known by the Dragons and every crime syndicate in the world as "Crying Freeman."
If there is one thing needed to know about this anime is that it's Ecchi, no idea why it's not covered in tags. Too much nonsense and contradictions. Reminded me Wounded Man/Kizuoibito in a lot of ways.
Overall Rating: 4/10
66. Violence Jack: Jigoku Gai-hen Violence Jack: Evil Town バイオレンス ジャック 〜地獄街編〜 [1988-IV] Studio 88 (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Gore Action, Drama, Horror
The World as we know it has been torn apart shattered by a series of natural disasters that have turned civilization into a brutish nightmare of survival and has left whole cities buried beneath the Earth. It's now a lethal and chaotic place, a place where only the strongest and most savage remain alive. The strongest of them all is a giant warrior known as Violence Jack…
Violence Jack tries to avert a civil war brewing among the wretched inhabitants of a subterranean metropolis called Evil Town. Based on a character created by manga horror specialist, Go Nagai.
Second part of the trilogy. And another forgotten use of Ecchi tag that is everywhere in this series. Jack starts to talk in this one, but setting is much less believable now. Basically, it starts to look a lot like Hokuto no Ken spinoff with masculine giants fighting and pawns exploding like watermelons. Not recommended.
Overall Rating: 4/10
67. Kikou Ryohei Mellowlink 機甲猟兵メロウリンク [1988-IV] Sunrise (Dropped 3/12)
Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi
As the sole survivor from a squad that was sacrificed and hung out as scapegoats for embezzlement of military resources at the end of the 100 years war, Mellowlink Arity is out for revenge.
Carrying the dogtags of his deceased comrades and armed with a dated anti AT rifle, he swears to hunt down and exact revenge on the corrupt officers that betrayed his squad, and maybe even uncover the truth behind the plot as well.
If you liked Armored Trooper Votoms, you'll probably like this one. If you did not like that, there's basically no chance. I did not like that.
Overall Rating: 5/10
68. Uchuu no Senshi Starship Troopers 宇宙の戦士 [1988-IV] Sunrise (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Shounen Sci-Fi Mecha, Military, Space
Johnny Rico is a high school student living in Buenos Aires, who doesn't know what to do with his future life. When his friend Carl and his love Carmen, whom he grew up with, join the Federal Military, he does too enlist in the hope to chase after his love into space. However, a war is brewing on the outer planets with a strange bug-like alien enemy and Johnny is thrust into conflict.
I'm a fan of Starship Troopers movie, but - to tell the truth - mostly because of majestic Denise Richards and great action visuals ... two things anime would not have. I'm shocked that half of the show is wasted on prologue and training. In episode 4 there was still no clash, just one-sided attack on the base while troopers were away. Episode 5 - nothing but cliffhanger. So actual action takes half of an episode - enjoy ! Cuz I could not .
Overall Rating: 5/10
69. Meiou Project Zeorymer Hades Project Zeorymer 冥王計画ゼオライマー [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Mecha, Psychological Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A young man named Akitsu Masato is captured by a secret govt. project known as "Last Guardian". He is told that his life as a normal student was all a lie, and that his real destiny is to be the pilot of a great robot called "Zeorymer of the Heavens". The truth of this is hammered in when Masato sees his parents accept payment for raising him. The Last Guardian is preparing for the resurrection of "Hau Dragon", an organization bent on world conquest. 15 years ago, Hau Dragon built 8 great robots. Each of the mecha represents a force of nature. However, before any of the robots could be used, their creater Kihara Masaki destroyed the robots except for the leader: Zeorymer. He took Zeorymer and an embryo to the government. The embryo became the boy Masato. Now, Hau Dragon has rebuilt the other 7 mecha and wants the 8th. It will be up to Masato and Himuro to pilot Zeorymer and fight against the Hau Dragon, but neither Masato or Himuro are all that they seem.
Basically, an incredibly boring mecha without any clever intrigue going underneath.
Overall Rating: 4/10
70. One Pound Gospel １ポンドの福音 [1988-IV] Gallop (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Comedy, Romance, Sports
Hatanaka Kosaku, a hopeful boxer, has a mean KO punch. Unfortunately, his dietary willpower is weak, and he eats even greasy hamburgers right before a bout. As a result, he has to compete in higher weight classes, and as soon as he takes an abdominal punch, he vomits, which causes him to lose the match in shame. As he tries to grapple with his weak will, he meets Sister Angela, a novitiate at a local convent. While Sister Angela strives to help Hatanaka in his endeavor, he seems to make her training to be a nun more difficult.
Boxing and religion... I seriously hate both. Absolutely spineless moron for protagonist, no real humor, no lesson ever learned, pure waste of time.
Overall Rating: 4/10
71. Maison Ikkoku: Shiki Utsuriyuku Kisetsu no Naka de めぞん一刻～移りゆく季節の中で～ [1988-IV] Studio Deen (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Comedy, Drama, Romance
A recap of the Maison Ikkoku series that focuses on the relationship between Godai and Kyoko. The entire special is taken from footage of the TV series.
Good for me who did not finish the series. I still like comedy part of the show more, but I'm glad this recap exists.
Overall Rating: 6/10
72. Gall Force 3: Stardust War ガルフォース3 スターダスト・ウォー [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi
The girls are saved ... by none other than Catty Nebulart herself! Now, the race is on as Catty struggles to complete her crowning achievement: a huge machine that will bring life to a lifeless world!
Yay, at least some kind of conclusion somewhere. Overall same level of confusion as previous parts.
Overall Rating: 5/10
73. Uchuu Kazoku Carlvinson 宇宙家族カールビンソン [1988-IV] Doga Kobo (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Childcare Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
When a motley band of traveling performers has a deep-space collision with another spacecraft, they find that the sole survivor of the other craft is a humanoid infant. They decide to raise the child as their own on the nearest planet as they wait for other members of the girl's race to come and find her.
In one phrase - kids material. All kinds of aliens eat sweets, organize kindergarten, that kind of stuff.
Overall Rating: 4/10
74. Ryuu Seiki Dragon Century 竜世紀 [1988-IV] AIC (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Mythology Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
The story of a young girl and a young dragon. Naturally, they are the best of friends, and naturally the rest of the world is against them both. However, when demons decide to trash their world, they side with those who have always been against them.
First episode is basically just befriending a dragon, second has some fights, but nothing to remember.
Overall Rating: 5/10
75. Yousei Ou Fairy King 妖精王 [1988-IV] Madhouse (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Fantasy
Jack has moved to Hokkaido to get treatment for an illness, but he's lonely and unhappy. One night a man on a horse rides through his window to help him. For a reason he doesn't understand, Jack instantly knows the man's name and feels they've met somewhere before. The man, Cu Chulainn, tells Jack to open the moonlight shadow window, which leads him to Nymphidia, the world of Midsummer Night's Dream, whose inhabitants are waiting for a new Fairy King
Art style is very irritating for me, as well as subtle shounen-ai hints. Basially, all main characters are males, so can hardly call it a shoujo at all. As for me, very uncool to watch at fragile crying at any trifle protagonist.
Overall Rating: 4/10
76. Kimagure Orange☆Road: Ano Hi ni Kaeritai きまぐれオレンジ★ロード あの日にかえりたい [1988-IV] Pierrot (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Years have passed since Kyousuke Kasuga became entangled in a love triangle with the childish Hikaru Hiyama and the elegant Madoka Ayukawa. Now in their final year of high school, Madoka and Kyousuke are thoroughly occupied preparing for their college entrance exams. Hikaru, not yet close to graduation, struggles with the realization that her two closest friends are leaving her. With the threat of separation looming over the horizon, Kyousuke is finally forced to decide who he loves—no matter how painful it may be.
Pretty painful movie because of psycho Hikaru, so hate this situation of winning back at all cost.
Overall Rating: 5/10
77. Hiatari Ryoukou! Yume no Naka ni Kimi ga Ita 陽あたり良好！ KA・SU・MI 夢の中に君がいた [1988-IV] Group TAC (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance
The movie starts out with Katsuhiko going to the US, with Kasumi and Yusaku seeing him off at Narita.
Two years later, Katsuhiko is a professional racer, and comes back to Japan to race (and to marry Kasumi). Yusaku's hobby is photography.
The worst epilogue compared to Maison Ikkoku and Orange road, but still nice to see where it all was going to.
Overall Rating: 5/10
78. Shinshuu Sudama-hen 神州魑魅変 [1988-IV] Magic Bus (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Seinen Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai Action
“Shinshuu Sudama-hen” is a 4-episode OVA about a vein of gold ore called the “Golden Dragon,” whose location can only be discovered by “joining” (read: having intercourse) with a particular woman who has inherited the blood of the gods. In the beginning, a man is assassinated, but in his dying breath, he tells Kageshichiro, the hero, that his daughter, Kageshichiro’s childhood friend Orie, holds the key to the Golden Dragon.
Not translated. Again ecchi tag is missing for some reason. Again very similar to Wounded man and Smiling freeman for the amount of gore, deaths, H events and also format of at least 4 OVA .
Overall Rating: 3/10
The only borderline masterpiece I can call in Summer 1990 is Mainichi ga Nichiyoubi
1. Robin Hood no Daibouken The Great Adventures of Robin Hood ロビンフッドの大冒険 [Tatsunoko Production] (Dropped 3/52)
Tags: Historical Adventure, Romance
A variant of Robin Hood in which all the principal characters are teenagers.
Several centuries ago in Nottingham County, a cruel and greedy baron by the name of Alwine ordered the destruction of the Huntingtons' castle—from the fire of which Robin and his cousins, Will, Winifred and Barbara, miraculously escaped. The youngsters sought shelter in Sherwood Forest, where, thanks to the wise guidance of the hermit better known as "Friar Tuck," they managed to face the difficulties of a life in the wilderness as as well as they could; however, in the forest there lived a fearless group of young bandits, led by Little John. Their first encounter with Robin and his cousins was at first rather stormy, as the two groups fought for the destiny of a young, noble maiden named Marian who had fallen into the hands of the bandits during an ambush.
Their bitterness, however, rapidly lead the way to friendship, and Robin and John later realized they were all victims of the same fate. The youngsters thus mutually decided to help one another. Baron Alwine was not merely enemy of the Huntingtons—in fact, a couple years earlier he had forced Little John and his gang to seek protection in the forest to avoid forced labour. He would later seek Marian Lancaster for the secret carved on a cross the girl wore as symbol of her family line.
The girl was to be adopted by the shady Bishop Herfort—Alwine's accomplice—who sought to attain the Lancaster's wealth. With all their strength, Robin and his friends were then compelled to fight against the baron's troops, led by Gilbert—a dangerous and fearless knight. When Winifred and Marian were then imprisoned in the castle's dungeons, our heroes tried in every way possible to enter until their ardour was finally rewarded with success. Thanks to his noble heart and heed for danger, Robin became rapidly known as the protector of the poor and oppressed. Beloved and highly esteemed not only by the villagers, but also and especially by the sweet and beautiful Marian he was. The boy who never parted from his loyal, magical bow, endlessly engaged in dangerous and unthinkable missions.
First Huckleberry , then Sawyer, then Peter Pan , and now finally Robin Hood adventures - I see them as links of one chain. Robin Hood has more recognizable characters and overall more interesting setting than Peter Pan , so it's a bit more enjoyable... not for me though. For me it's just a childish fantasy on famous story with zero interest in the plot.
Overall Rating: 5/10
2. Karasu Tengu Kabuto カラス天狗カブト [KSS] (Dropped 3/39)
Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama
500 years ago in the Tensho Era of Japan, a man was born who defied the will of a demon; a man who had gods of good on his side; a man destined to battle evil....his name was Kabuto. Somehow, Kuroyasya Douki, the vile Black Night Demon, escaped his prison in hell and returned to the earthly plane to wreak vengeance on the family-line of Kabuto. None can escape his deadly magic and masterful skills with the blade; however, the gods of the North, West, East, and South band together to help Kabuto stand for Justice. With the questionable help of a diabolical talking sword that his own father forged, Kabuto may live another day to see his own sons born....
The first bell rings when no Studio and only producer is known. Story suffers from constant change of place and perspective until the band gathers up and most of lack of explanation. As action pretty average, as for me.
Overall Rating: 5/10
3. A-Ko The Versus Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars -Ko The VS [ヴァーサス] [Studio Fantasia] (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
A-ko and B-ko are bounty hunters in an untamed world. When a young heiress, C-ko, falls out of the sky and into their hair, they find themselves battling space pirates and galactic police. Turns out the high-pitched, hungry C-ko holds a secret—the spirit of an ancient evil—and is the center of a plot to destroy the universe!
I was so happy when A-Ko tetralogy finished with Finale OVA, and here we go again. This alternative setting when C-Ko goes from everyone's beloved into some heir and eternal rivals A-Ko and B-Ko becoming partner bounty-hunters does not add credibility. Grey side and Blue side confuses even worse. I can't find anything good in this spin-off.
Overall Rating: 5/10
4. Nineteen 19 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Drama, Romance
19-year-old Kubota is ready to find a girlfriend. The perfect chance arises when he meets Masana Fujisaka, his first love, in a club. She's just broken up with her longtime boyfriend and is surprised to run into Kubota, who sees that the perfect opportunity has just arisen.
Not bad romantic anime with some strange homo moves and cool music, yet very straightforward due to short 40-minutes length.
Overall Rating: 6/10
5. Bouken! Iczer 3 Iczer Reborn 冒険！イクサー３ [AIC, Darts] (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In deep space a battle wages between the forces of good and evil and the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance. The evil Neos Gold dispatches her invading forces towards Earth with only one aim: the total destruction of all mankind. Now it's up to Iczer 3 (the younger sister of Iczer 1) to defend the Earth from the deadly armada of Neos Gold, with only the Earth's single remaining battle cruiser on her side. But don't count her out; what Iczer 3 lacks in experience she makes up for in all-out enthusiasm.
The most memorable thing about Iczer-1 was yuri and ecchi, and now both these elements and toned down. Good job making another somewhat unique franchise totally unremarkable.
Overall Rating: 5/10
6. Riki-Oh 2: Horobi no Ko Riki-Oh 2: Child of Destruction 力王2 「滅びの子」 [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Martial Arts, Super Power Action
Child of Destruction is the sequel to the RIKI-OH OVA Wall of Hell. Child of Destruction tells us more of Riki's past, as we flash back to his childhood to learn the terrible fate of his mother and how he himself was taken away from his twin brother Nachi during a game of hide-and-seek, with Nachi's plaintive cry of "Are you ready yet?" haunting him through the years. Riki has a six-pointed star emblazoned on his hand, while Nachi has a swastika on his, the significance of which go unexplained. Riki finds himself in the town of Misaki, dotted with illegal nuclear power plants and run by a religious fanatic military organization called "God's Judgment." He is taken prisoner and made to fight in gladiatorial matches in a sprawling arena. He finds his brother, whose special powers have given him the name of "Savior," but his reunion with his resentful sibling turns sour rather quickly. Part 2 is much gorier than Part 1, with Riki smashing his fists into numerous soldier opponents with far less restraint.
Just another story resembling the first movie. But all those exploding body parts and evil aniki make it look more and more like Hokuto no Ken, and that's a very bad comparison in my understanding.
Overall Rating: 4/10
7. Mainichi ga Nichiyoubi 毎日が日曜日 [Production I.G, Group TAC] (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Detective Comedy, Romance
Yumi Takeshita is a cheerful lady who recently joined the police force of the Tawagoto precinct. When she was still a middle school student, she was saved from being hit by a truck thanks to a stranger. Several years later, she meets her savior once again while performing her first arrest attempt. He is a magician named Tohru Ichidaiji and Yumi is charmed to finally meet him. As a police officer who is assigned to several odd tasks, she will keep asking for the help of the handy Tohru.
Quite nice comedy with lots of clever parody. I could enjoy it only a little, but it's just what borderline masterpiece score is for.
Overall Rating: 7/10
8. Fuuma no Kojirou: Seiken Sensou-hen 風魔の小次郎 聖剣戦争篇 [animate Film] (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Fantasy
Hakuo Gakuin used to be a prestigious high school, and famous for martial arts. However, because its rival school; Seishikan, has been cowardly luring it's superior students, Hakuo was going to decline.
In order to recover from the situation, the acting principal of Hakuo; Hojo Himeko, sends Yagyu Ranko to the Fuma Village in search of the famous Fuma ninja clan for assistance. The leader of the Fuma sent Kojiro to Hakuo, there he faces the notorious Yasha clan who fights for Seishikan lead by Asuka Musashi.
Soon Kojiro's comrades arrive and an all-out ninja war postponed for 500 years begins between the 2 clans.
The plot is a mere excuse for two factions to clash. Lots of repetitive sword fights with obligatory special skill. This anime looks like writer tried to describe an average shounen action anime and just put it to the screen .
Overall Rating: 5/10
9. Hengen Taima Yakou Karura Mau! Sendai Kokeshi Enka 変幻退魔夜行 カルラ舞う！ 仙台小芥子怨歌 [-] (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Shoujo Horror
Shoko and Maiko Ougi are apparently two ordinary schoolgirls in pursuit of graduating and having fun. Shii-chan is the more serious while Mai-chan is more fun-loving. In reality, the two sisters are powerful exorcists from the Karura temple. Each wields half the power... Shii-chan can "see" the spirits, and Mai-chan can banish them. This is a spooky series with heavy emphasis on traditionally Japanese occult themes.
Had a prequel in 1989, so everyone should have made an opinion about this horror exorcist anime already.
Overall Rating: 5/10
10. 100% A Hundred Percents [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Drama
A pretty 22-year-old girl leaves university and gets her dream job as a TV newscaster, only to discover that life is tough at the top. Adaptation of the "Young Action" manga by Michio Yanagisawa.
Not translated. An OK newscaster SOL. Some rivalry, sex harassment and fooling around. There's no global aim except just gaining success at work, and with 50 minutes it's hard to flesh out characters, so can't say it was super interesting for me.
Overall Rating: 6/10
11. Ai to Ken no Camelot: Mangaka Marina Time Slip Jiken 愛と剣のキャメロット まんが家マリナ タイムスリップ事件 [Ashi Productions] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Marina meets beautiful boys in a SF Fantasy based in Medieval England.
It's either shoujo or josei for sure since it's a reverse harem with bishounens of different kinds of nudity (ever wanted to see a scene of a boy washing in a shower? you will anyway in this OVA). Don't expect a good story here.
Overall Rating: 5/10
12. Lemon Angel YJ-ban レモンエンジェル（ＹＪ版） [MI] (Finished 2/2)
Tags: School Romance
Adaptation of the Lemon Angel manga serialized in Young Jump magazine.
Not translated. I was surprised not to see even Ecchi tag, but as expected it should be here as corresponding situations with nudity happen from the very start. There's hardly anything good in both stories.
Overall Rating: 4/10
13. OL Kaizou Kouza OL改造講座 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life
Inspired by Drop Dead! Stupid Office Ladies, a column in Monthly Gendai magazine.
Old fart version saw light in 1989, and this office lady variant follows same structure - many sketches. Again, looks good, but in dare need of translation.
Overall Rating: 6/10
14. Tengai Makyou: Jiraiya Oboro-hen 天外魔境 自来也おぼろ変 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Adventure, Fantasy
Based on the first Tengai Makyou game, that initially came out in 1989 as one of the first titles for NEC's PC Engine CD-ROM. Zipang country is enjoying peace nowadays after ancient sealing of demon destroyer Masakado by three fire clan heroes. Nowadays a foreign sect tries to revive Masakado and establish military dominance over Zipang. Protagonist Jiraiya is a descendant of almost vanished fire clan. He needs to find two fire clan heroes to prevent Masakado awakening.
Not translated. Unlike previous horrible anime made to pair with the game super real mahjong, this time anime is based on a game that came out a year before, so it's an absolutely normal anime with 96 minutes length. Anime has good character design and directorship. It's funny enough , but development is absolutely serious without usual shounen dips. Very decent movie, with translation it would sure be a success.
Overall Rating: 6/10
15. City Hunter: Bay City Wars シティーハンター ベイシティウォーズ [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery
A new island resort has been built in Tokyo bay, and it is run by one of the world's most powerful super computers. The City Hunter gang has been invited to the grand opening party, but only Miki & Kaori have gotten there. Soon, they and the rest of the party goers are taken hostage by an exiled South American dictator called General Gillium. Now it's up to Ryo and Umibozu to free the hostages, and prevent Gillium's daughter from using the super computer to launch a nuclear attack on the USA.
42 minutes means it's just a paired episode. Still, with jokes placed right and fast-paced action it's still one of the best representatives of the series.
Overall Rating: 6/10
16. City Hunter: Hyakuman Dollar no Inbou シティーハンター 百万ドルの陰謀 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Mystery
Beautiful American Emily O'Hara offers the City Hunter (Ryo Saeba & Kaori Makimura) one million dollars to protect her from a man named Douglas. Ryo & Kaori take the job, but things are not quite what they seem. The real target just might be Ryo, but it's unclear who wants Saeba dead.
Can only compare it with Bay City Wars OVA, and this comparison is not in current title favor, so lower score.
Overall Rating: 5/10
17. "Eiji" 「エイジ」 [Production I.G, animate Film] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Comedy, Drama, Sports
Legendary boxer Keijiro Akagi's second son, Eiji, is a high school dropout and the world's worst rock guitarist. Though his father and elder brother are both boxers, he hates the sport but suddenly takes an interest in it when he meets the local champion's little sister.
I like a lot of elements of this anime - aesthetics, humor, usage of music (cuz music itself is just slightly better than noise), conversations, so it's definitely above average. With boxing kicking in humor mostly disappears , but there's enough momentum in the story to finish on a decent note.
Overall Rating: 6/10
18. Pink Mizu Dorobou Ame Dorobou Pink: Water Thieves Rain Thieves ピンク みずドロボウあめドロボウ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Fantasy
The plot is about a young girl named Pink who is a bandit in the desert who steals water from the Silver Company.
A lot of humor and action is packed in 32 minutes. Not suitable for me, but I acknowledge it's above average.
Overall Rating: 6/10
19. Tenjouhen: Utsunomiko 天上編・宇宙皇子 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Mythology Adventure, Fantasy
Prequel of Utsunomiko.
Not translated. I rated Utsunomiko as average, and this one does change initial impression.
Overall Rating: 5/10
20. Kimu no Juujika キムの十字架 [-] (Finished 0/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
Based on the novel by Noboru Wada.
Not found.
Overall Rating: 0/10
21. Fujiko Fujio A no Mumako 藤子不二雄Aの夢魔子 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 3/3)
Tags: Horror, Supernatural
Based on the horror novel by Fujio (A) Fujiko.
I was misleaded by 30 minutes length and one episode, but it's rather three episodes each 10 minutes long . Concept is similar to Laughing Salesman, but done worse, with strange comedy that's hardly appropriate here. Very messy .
Overall Rating: 4/10
Can nominate only Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor 2 the Movie and Crayon Shin-chan Movie 01: Action Kamen vs. Haigure Maou as minor masterpieces.
1. Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki: Omatsuri Zenjitsu no Yoru! 天地無用！魎皇鬼 SPECIAL お祭り前日の夜！ [AIC] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Harem Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
After his recent battle in space, Tenchi Masaki believes that his fighting days are over. Unfortunately, his life is far from peaceful since Aeka Jurai Masaki and Ryouko Hakubi—the two women giving him the most grief—cannot seem to get along, continuing to fight over who gets to be Tenchi's lover.
Since their usual romantic strategies fail, Aeka and Ryouko decide to research how to woo a man. After spending hours going through shoujo manga, the two decide to act like the girls they've read about and put Tenchi through various scenarios, with the hope that he will fall in love with one of them.
Compared to original setting is finalized already, so there is room for more humor and harem stuff as there is hardly any story in special. Better, yet not great.
Overall Rating: 6/10
2. Casshern: Robot Hunter Casshan: Robot Hunter キャシャーン [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Mecha Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the near future, robot technology has advanced to the point of self-awareness. Under the leadership of the "Black King," machines have decimated the human population and conquered the world. Those who survived the early holocaust have been enslaved for life. But throughout the hardships, a lone hero appears as the savior of mankind. He is Casshan - a fusion of man and machine driven to combat Black King and his forces to the end.
This anime does not even have any credible source, just a horrible superpower flick from the 1970s. Everything remains pretty schematic, and with the rotten core no building around it can bring anything good.
Overall Rating: 5/10
3. Mermaid's Scar 人魚の傷 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Legend has it that when you eat the flesh of a mermaid, you would live forever. Yuta and Mana are living proof of this... Together, they journey to various places trying to find meaning for their existence, or perhaps even a "cure" for their situation. One day, Yuta and Mana meet Masato, a little boy who seems terrified of his mother Misa. It seems to Yuta and Mana that mother and son have a very unusual relationship. What happens when Yuta and Mana decide to discover the dark secret Masato and Misa are hiding? And what about those monster-like creatures that have been appearing?
Mermaid forest prequel was plain horrible, this one is also pretty disgusting, only for those who like trashy depressing horrors.
Overall Rating: 5/10
4. Eightman After 8 Man After エイトマン AFTER [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Private detective Hazama Itsuru is hired by Professor Tani to investigate a cyborg parts theft which eventually leads him to meet Sachiko Yokogawa, the original 8 Man's love interest. Living her new life working for the Biotecho Corp., Sachiko finds herself involved with a new 8 Man, who appears after Hazama is fatally wounded by an unknow cyborg. Amidst a violent urban background with cyber-junkies creating chaos around the city, this other 8 Man will fight criminals in a more agressive way.
Eightman was chronologically the first anime that I rated as ONE. This superhero continuation with schematic plot is disgrace to the whole cyberpunk genre. Also has some disturbingly bloody scenes.
Overall Rating: 4/10
5. A-Girl A-Girl [エー・ガール] [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Music, School Romance
High-school student Mariko and her elder sister Mayu are forced out of their apartment by a fire and move in with their landlord. Mariko meets the landlord's handsome son, Natsume, who is also a model. They fall in love but break up when Mariko discovers that Natsume is seeing other girls. Eventually, they are reunited, and the end credits roll.
A-Girl has no dialog and is performed against a background of Japanese pop songs composed by Okada Tooru and sung in English! by SEIKA. Intertiles provide continuity, like in old silent films.
It's a musical with all the dialogues shown at still black screen like in old movies. There's also pretty weird torn directorship with a lot of disjointed scenes not getting into integral picture...
Overall Rating: 5/10
6. Youseiki Suikoden Suikoden Demon Century 妖世紀水滸伝 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Martial Arts Action, Fantasy
In the early 21st century, an earthquake destroyed Tokyo. Japan lost its center of government and industry, and turned into a lawless territory. Looking for his sister, Takateru Suga learns that she was kidnapped by the powerful Koryukai gang. He decides to ally himself with a drag queen, two ex-mercenaries and a nun to destroy the crime organization and save his sister!
Well, yeah, a bunch of different guys attack organization and rescue sister, sometimes it looks good, but the main question is why exactly should someone spend 45 minutes on cheap action.
Overall Rating: 5/10
7. Big Wars: Kami Utsu Akaki Kouya ni Big Wars ビッグ・ウォーズ 神撃つ朱き荒野に [Magic Bus] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi
It is the dawn of the 21st century. Mankind has terraformed and colonized Mars. But we are not alone in the universe. An ancient race of alien beings, known only as "The Gods," has been watching mankind's progress ...and waiting. Now, these mysterious aliens have returned to halt mankind's expansion into space ...by force.
Now, the planet named after the God of War will become our final battlefield, as mankind fights a desperate battle with the latest in high-tech, military hardware: hyper-advanced aircraft, orbital fighters, and gigantic, desert battleships brimming with the most advanced weaponry.
But will it be enough? The aliens have awesome, incredibly destructive weapons at their disposal—including "Hell"—an unstoppable stealth carrier. But the alien's primary weapon is insidiously quiet and invisible—a mind control plaque. Incurable. Inevitable. Contagious. Humans are powerless to resist its effects, which transforms even the most loyal soldiers into dangerous subversives.
Our last hope lies with Captain Akuh and the crew of the Battleship Aoba. If his top-secret mission is successful, mankind will deal a decisive blow to the alien armada. But Akuh's girlfriend is showing signs of nymphomania—the first symptom of alien subversion!
It's mostly about hallucinations, gore and explosions. Often surreal development and unsatisfying ending contribute to the weak impact.
Overall Rating: 5/10
8. Bad Boys [Toei Video] (Finished 3/5)
Tags: Seinen Delinquents Action, Comedy
Tsukasa, Yoji, and Eiji are friends and members of the motorcycle gang called the Paradise Butterflies. Riding the streets of Hiroshima, their goal in life is to top all other gangs in their city.
Only three of five episodes are translated. This is one of three delinquents anime that were issued at a pace of 1-2 episodes over many years, and these are usually of higher quality than usual - better pace and comedy with more variation. It's generally on the same level as Shounan Bakusouzoku. I'd consider giving it a masterpiece if it was fully translated.
Overall Rating: 6/10
9. Idol Bouei-tai Hummingbird Hummingbirds アイドル防衛隊ハミングバード [Ashi Productions] (Finished 4/4)
Tags: Idols (Female), Military, Music, Parody Comedy
When the Japanese government puts civilian organizations in charge of the country's air force, some of these companies decide to put their aspiring idol singers behind the controls of their fighter planes. Among these groups of idol singers is Hummingbird, a five-woman team consisting of the Toreishi sisters: Satsuki, Uzuki, Yayoi, Kanna and Mina. During a taping session, video director Kudou sees some potential in these girls and jumps in to help them reach the top of the charts by directing their debut video.
It's musical with idols in the first place and military as a side dish. Not bad , especially after a huge number of failed modern idol anime, but not a masterpiece .
Overall Rating: 6/10
10. Hon Ran Crimson Wolf 紅狼[ホンラン] [Streamline Pictures] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Martial Arts Action
The fate of the world rests in the ability of three untested warriors to defeat an unearthly army of darkness. Sorcery, martial arts and an unrequited love, spanning the centuries, explode in an epic battle at the gates of the forbidden city. Crimson Wolf is an unusual departure for the Anime genre - rooted in real world reference, it makes the fantasy all the more believable.
A cringy story with past mystical references and strangely placed nudity.
Overall Rating: 5/10
11. Ryuuseiki Gakusaver Shooting Star Gakusaver 流星機ガクセイバー [Production I.G] (Finished 6/6)
Tags: Mecha, Parody, School, Space Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
A gigantic meteorite landed on earth a few years back. A mysterious capsule believed to have belonged to the aliens was discovered. Called the "black box," an international organization called "Project BB" was created to research it.
Eight boys, including Manabu Yoshimura, attend International Academy, a school located near Project BB headquarters. They are enticed by their teacher Toukichi Hashiba's promise of "I'll give you class credit," and end up getting involved in his experiment. The experiment was to enter the eight empty chambers of meteorite. According to Hashiba's theory, the meteorite should strongly respond to strong human thoughts. He tells them to have a clear image of a great looking gigantic robot; if they do, something should happen...
Then, a big spaceship appears in the sky and an alien calling himself Wercury appears in a 3-D image. He tells them he is from the Star of Prokimasi and that he has come to collect the meteorite of the Choshin people. If they do not hand it over, he will challenge the earth beings to a battle. Manabu and his friends are confused by the unexpected turn of events but the meteorite responds to the thoughts of the group and suddenly starts to transform itself into a gigantic robot. Then, attacked by the invading Prokimasi robot, they are forced to pull their strength together and fight back. But it is extremely difficult to put the wills of the eight together as one and the robot cannot fight in the way it should. The gigantic robot that Hashiba named "Gakusaver" and Manabu's eight; can they manage to protect Earth and the meteorite from the Prokimasi invasion?
It's so silly that sometimes it's funny. But most of the time it's not. Still, among mecha it's decent.
Overall Rating: 6/10
12. Akuemon 悪右衛門 [Tezuka Productions] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Fantasy, Romance
A fortuneteller tells Hidari Taisho that he must hunt down 1000 foxes in order to conquer the country. So Akuemon, who is disliked by everybody, is hired to do the foxhunting. In response, the foxes send a female fox to Akuemon's house disguised as his wife. A story unfolds between Akuemon, who has never loved anyone, and the female fox, who slowly discovers true love in him even while tormented by sorrow over her comrades' death. This is the 6th work in "The Lion Books" series. It is also the first attempt by visualist Tezuka Makoto, Tezuka's older son, to render an original of his father's into an animated version.
Well, Tezuka pulls out some old father's work, but it's not something special, don't know why to spend 25 minutes on it at all. There's just nothing gained after it, resolution is just bad.
Overall Rating: 5/10
13. Kiss wa Hitomi ni Shite キッスは瞳にして [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Drama, Romance
High school student Morisato Ibuki has a startling dream about kissing a prince on a white horse. The next day, the prince from her dream, Ebisu Naoto, shows up as a transfer student at her school and a guest at her house. He had indeed kissed her, in an attempt to wake her up in the morning, although he claims that she kissed him. Ibuki is smitten with Naoto, but he seems to have other commitments, to American football and to a mysterious girl called Kawahara Izumi. Meanwhile, Nitta, a shy boy in Ibuki's class, has a crush on her. Will true love eventually find a way?
Being cut as at is with dream about a prince on a white horse it's full of usual shoujo stamps and due to 30 minutes length there's no time to transform that impression already. But it has time to insert some song in the middle. In this state it's nothing worthy to talk about.
Overall Rating: 5/10
14. Oedo wa Nemurenai! お江戸はねむれない! [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama, Fantasy
We are now in the early 18th century, the Kyouhou era, when the merchant culture was flourishing. In Yoshiwara, the red light district of Edo, there is a popular courtesan with good looks and character, called Usugumo. She in fact is a daughter of a Christianized prostitute and Tokugawa Yoshimune (who was a real historical character and the 8th Shogun of Japan), but the power struggle in these times doesn't allow her to be with her father. Her fate is about to change when she meets the blond haired thief, Kikunosuke. With Kikunosuke, a doctor named Aoto Touichirou, who uses the yet unfamiliar Western medicine, and her pet cat, Kotetsu, Usugumo forms a thief group, the Kikugumi. In the meanwhile, a member of a mysterious group appears, aiming for Usugumo...
Again, just 30 minutes, and very little explanation. As a result, it's a series of seemingly random clashes with new and new characters jumping out all the time, also a good doze of cringe with battle dolls.
Overall Rating: 5/10
15. Mellow 女郎 [めろう] [KSS] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Crossdressing, Delinquents, School Comedy
A story about a crossdressing teacher handling a delinquent class.
Based on the same-name seinen manga by Rin Kasahara.
Not translated. Protagonist cross-dresses to hide from yakuza and uses skills gained in the underworld to deal with delinquent class. It barely has anything of notice except eternal trap flashes and stupidest imaginable "humor".
Overall Rating: 4/10
16. Naniwa Kinyuu Den: Minami no Teiou 難波金融伝 ミナミの帝王 [KSS] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama
The story centers around Ginjirou Manda, a loan shark who charges toichi — 10% more interest every 10 days, or 365% every year. Thanks to his unrelenting money-collecting tactics, he is feared as Minami no Oni or the Demon of Osaka's Minami business district.
Not translated. Original was live action, and this is kinda its continuation. I don't see the point why would someone want to see one yakuza-like person claiming debts from other yakuza-like persons.
Overall Rating: 4/10
17. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor 2 the Movie 機動警察パトレイバー2 the Movie [Bandai Visual] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Detective, Mecha, Military Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Three years after the Babylon Project conspiracy is resolved, the members of Kiichi Gotou's Patlabor unit have gone their separate ways. Gotou remains with the Patlabor team, accompanied by Shinobu Nagumo, his romantic crush and comrade.
Playing into the public's skepticism toward the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, a terrorist organization begins to work from within the military to cause destruction and mass civil unrest throughout Japan. Nagumo learns that the mastermind behind the growing terrorist plot is none other than Yukihito Tsuge, her former mentor and lover.
Gotou reassembles his former Patlabor team, spearheaded by pilot Noa Izumi. Leading the team into a mission to arrest Tsuge, Nagumo must come to terms with her complicated past relationships in order to save Japan.
It has very little to do with Patlabor franchise since mecha show up for a very little time and all the goofy attitude vanished without trace. It's a serious conspiracy story that in the end allowed its spiritual successor GITS with its tachikomas to truly shine. A lot of interesting visual instruments are used to make constant talks and observation of landscapes less boring. It was still relatively boring for me, even most vague GITS movies never could afford such slow pace.
Overall Rating: 7/10
18. Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho (Movie) Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie 幽☆遊☆白書 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Mythology Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural
Yusuke Urameshi is not exactly what you'd call an angel. In fact, some might call him down right devilish. But when he dies in an accident trying to save a child, he finds himself in the Spirit World. Unfortunately for Yusuke, his name is not listed in the Book of Enma, which means it was one big mistake! So he should return from the Spirit World, but must pass a few tests first, and become a detective of the spiritual world.
So now Yusuke works in the Spirit World as a half-dead, half-alive agent for Koenma, son of the ruler of the Spirit World. This position does have its disadvantages, especially when you're trying to enjoy your summer vacation and Koenma gets kidnapped! So now Yusuke must interrupt his summer fun to find Koenma and trade the Golden Seal of King Enma for his life. But if someone other then King Enma has the Golden Seal there will be chaos in the Spirit World! What's a half-dead spirit detective to do?
With the aide of his closest allies, Yusuke sets off for Magma Valley, to save the life of the one who saved his, and find out who's at the bottom of this evil conspiracy.
It's called movie with 24 minute length... suuure. All it has is action that is probably important in the course of the series , but was hardly of significance for me. There's even no humor, nothing to add scores for .
Overall Rating: 5/10
19. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 01: Action Kamen vs. Haigure Maou 映画 クレヨンしんちゃん アクション仮面ＶＳハイグレ魔王 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Seinen Action, Adventure, Comedy
By finding a rare Action Kamen card, Shinnosuke Nohara and his family end up being chosen to go to a parallel world and help foil an alien invasion that is occurring over there.
It's inevitable that density of jokes suffers if one story takes 90 minutes instead of 7 minutes. I was actually happy to learn more about Action Kamen and kindergarten director. There was quite a number of solid jokes in the course. Being enjoyable is all that matters in the end.
Overall Rating: 7/10
20. Ohoshi-sama no Rail Rail of the Star: A True Story of Children お星さまのレール [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
This is the autobiographic tale of Kobayashi Chitose, a young Japanese girl growing up in a Japanese-occupied North Korea. As World War II progresses, Chitose begins to realize that her family will not be able to escape the effects of the conflict. From the simple disappointment of not being able to get the type of backpack she wants for school, to her father's recruitment as a soldier, the war begins to impact her life in a very real manner. But the end of the war does not mean the end of hardship for her. The Koreans, fed up with years of Japanese rule and persecution, have joined forces with a Chinese-backed communist government and are systematically making life a living horror for the Japanese left in North Korea. Fearing reprisal since he was a Japanese veteran, Chitose's father risks everything to get his family out of the north and to the US-occupied area south of the 38th parallel.
A surprisingly decent autobiography during WWII. But real lives are rarely interesting, to be honest. I can't sympathize with such things as not getting the rucksack she liked or getting a needle wound or having her toy crushed by Koreans forcing to evacuate... Bigger events are shown through the prism of small events like that. And of course there's no real climax, no real resolution, so nothing outstanding.
Overall Rating: 6/10
21. Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten (1993) 注文の多い料理店 [-] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural
Two gentlemen from the city go out hunting. After getting lost on a mountain road they found a cheap restaurant. But everything is not as it seems.
A 20 minute fairy-tale about tanuki and hunters, nothing to see here.
Overall Rating: 5/10
22. Rokudenashi Blues 1993 ろくでなしBLUES 1993 [Toei Animation] (Finished 0/1)
Tags: Shounen Combat Sports, Delinquents, School Action, Comedy, Drama, Sports
Sequel to the Rokudenashi Blues movie.
Not found.
Overall Rating: 0/10
23. Tsuru ni Notte: Tomoko no Bouken On A Paper Crane: Tomoko's Adventure つるにのって とも子の冒険 [Mushi Production] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Drama
A young girl named Tomoko visits the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. There she has a mysterious meeting with Sadako, the little girl who was 2 years old when the U.S. dropped the bomb on her city during WWII and 11 when she died from the effects of radiation poisoning. Sadako takes Tomoko on an eye-opening journey.
It's 27 minutes long and does not have sub version as of now, only dub one, which is a lot worse, as usual. It's literally an anime about playing with the girl statue that sort of comes to life and seeing those days through statue girl's eyes. And radiated girl is happy, because her country does not have to wage wars ever again... sure... it's too cheesy, really.
Overall Rating: 5/10
24. Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle バトルファイターズ餓狼伝説 [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Drama
After defeating Geese Howard, legendary fighter Terry Bogard faces German warrior Wolfgang Krauser, only to suffer a humiliating defeat. Depressed by his loss, Terry wanders around the country, wasting his life through drinking. Only a young boy named Tony can convince Terry to go back to his winning ways, conquer his fears, and once again face Krauser.
Original was horrible. This one has at least logical development and some character introduction. In the end it's still poorly staged fighting anime with possible appeal only for series fans.
Overall Rating: 5/10
25. Hiroshima ni Ichiban Densha ga Hashitta ヒロシマに一番電車が走った [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Historical Drama
The story follows a girl who works on a streetcar both before and after the bomb drops on Hiroshima.
Not translated. The adult protagonist already makes it decent, lol. It's mostly 30 minutes of talks, though, so not outstanding yet again.
Overall Rating: 6/10
26. Mikan Enikki Specials みかん絵日記 [Nippon Animation] (Finished 2/2)
Tags: Shoujo Pets Comedy, Slice of Life
An extra episode and a special of the Mikan Enikki series included as a bonus on VHS/DVD's.
First special is about English and a bit about romance, so has very little humor. Second special is less than 15 minutes and about just a... parrot, another miss, so overall specials are decent at best.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Sequel Druaga no Tou: The Sword of Uruk is the only contestant this small season.
1. Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger はじめの一歩 新シリーズ [Madhouse] (Finished 1/26)
Tags: Shounen Combat Sports
Japanese Featherweight Champion Ippo Makunouchi has successfully defended and retained his title. Meanwhile, his rival, Ichirou Miyata, has resurfaced in Japan, aiming for his own Featherweight belt in the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation. When the rest of the world comes knocking, however, will Japan's best fighters rise to the challenge and achieve glory at the top? Or will the small island nation be crushed under the weight of greater entities? This time, champions will become challengers issuing a call to the rest of the world and ready to show off their fighting spirit!
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
2. Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou 続 夏目友人帳 [Brain's Base] (Finished 1/13)
Tags: Shoujo Iyashikei, Mythology Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural
As with its prequel, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou is about Takashi Natsume, a boy who has had the ability to see youkai since he was young, and his bodyguard youkai Madara, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei. Natsume attempts to return names written in his "Book of Friends" (which he inherited from his grandmother Reiko) to youkai in his village. Throughout these adventures, he meets some youkai that are friendly, some that want to steal the Book, and some that want to kill him, as Natsume learns about himself and his relationship with these mysterious beings along the way.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
3. Chrome Shelled Regios 鋼殻のレギオス [Zexcs] (Finished 24/24)
Tags: School Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic world overrun with mutated beasts called Limbeekoon or Filth Monsters, humanity is forced to live in large mobile cities called Regios and learn to use special weapons called Dite, by harnessing the power of Kei to defend themselves. In the Academy City of Zuellni, Layfon Alseif is hoping to start a new life and forget his past. However, his past has caught the attention of Karian Loss, the manipulative Student Council President and Nina Antalk, a Military Arts student and Captain of the 17th Military Arts Platoon, who instantly recognizes his abilities and decides he’s the perfect candidate to join her group. However, with a secret past that won’t leave him alone and unknown powers beyond normal, Layfon just might not take it.
Hearing about it for the first time, but after watching it I can say for sure - it's not a masterpiece. It tries to combine elements from a lot of notable shows and all that eclecticism is killing its potential.
Overall Rating: 6/10
4. Asu no Yoichi! Samurai Harem 明日のよいち！ [AIC] (Finished 1/12)
Tags: Shounen Harem, Martial Arts Comedy, Romance, Ecchi
Yoichi Karasuma has spent all of his life in the mountains, training in the Soaring Wind, Divine Wind swordsmanship style. Under his father’s guidance, he is able to master the technique at the age of 17. With nothing left to learn, Yoichi is sent to a new dojo located in the city so he can continue to train and gain an understanding of modern society.
Unfortunately, Yoichi has no idea how to act or speak to anyone in the present day and acts like a samurai, complete with odd speech and traditional clothing. As he goes to live with the Ikaruga sisters at the dojo, Yoichi, clueless on how to interact with others, is constantly hurtled in hilarious misunderstandings. Asu no Yoichi! follows Yoichi as he stumbles through his new life and tries to learn how to live in the modern world with his new family.
It's pretty much what you imagine. Redneck samurai gets to civilization and everyone falls for him, then it's a typical romcom comedy.
Overall Rating: 6/10
5. Maria†Holic まりあ†ほりっく [Shaft] (Finished 3/12)
Tags: Crossdressing, Parody, School Comedy, Girls Love
In search of true love, Kanako Miyamae transfers to Ame no Kisaki Catholic school, inspired by how her parents fell in love with each other there. There is just one difference, though: because men make Kanako break into hives, she has actually come to the all-girls school to find a partner of the same sex.
When she meets the beautiful Mariya Shidou, Kanako believes she has found that special someone; however, there's more to Mariya than meets the eye—it turns out that Kanako's first love is actually a cross-dressing boy. Mariya threatens to expose Kanako's impure intentions unless she keeps his real gender a secret, and to make things worse, he also replaces her original roommate so that he can now keep a close eye on her.
Maria†Holic follows Kanako as she looks for love in all the wrong places and searches for the girl of her dreams—that is, if she can survive being Mariya's roommate!
Finally the unserious girls love, but I can't describe these overreactions as comedy, no fun in that.
Overall Rating: 6/10
6. Akikan! アキカン! [Brain's Base] (Finished 12/12)
Tags: Anthropomorphic Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi
Hobbies are often a great way of meeting new people, but how could Kakeru Daichi, who collects rare juice cans, have ever suspected that he'd meet a fascinating new girl when he attempted to DRINK her? Naming her Melon, because she's got great melon... soda, Kakeru quickly learns that she's an Akikan—a beautiful girl who's also a special can created to fight other Akikans in a strange experiment to determine what kind of container is better: steel or aluminum!
Will becoming involved in this ridiculously twisted research project gone amuck complicate Kakeru's life incredibly? Of course it will, but because Melon's steel body needs carbon dioxide to breathe, he's now stuck with her since she's too CO2 dependent! And when his wealthy, attractive, best childhood friend Najimi gets HER own aluminum Akikan, the trouble really begins!
Nice ecchi cohabitation with a girl, but it's hard to call this collection of stamps a masterpiece.
Overall Rating: 6/10
7. Kurokami The Animation 黒神 The Animation [Sunrise] (Finished 6/23)
Tags: Seinen Martial Arts, Super Power Action
High school student Ibuki Keita has been haunted by misfortune for as long as he can remember. For no apparent reason, everyone around him dies tragically. Ultimately, he refuses to become too close to anyone, even his childhood friend Akane. This leaves Keita alone in a life full of misery and disgrace.
While eating at his favorite ramen shop one evening, Keita meets a strange young girl named Kuro. Possessing abilities that surpass that of a normal human being, Kuro classifies herself as a Mototsumitama. She explains to Keita about "Terra," a life-energy force split between three identical looking people; a global phenomenon dubbed the "Doppeliner System." As a Mototsumitama, Kuro guards the "Coexistence Equilibrium," the beings that protect the flow of Terra around the world. Keita refuses to believe her story, until he is caught up in the crossfire of this hidden world. On the verge of death, he makes a contract with Kuro, unbeknownst to its true meaning. Now he is bound to Kuro, and must be with her at all times. Could Keita's misfortune possibly get any greater?
Concept is copycat of Shana with alterations, characters aren't empathetic, enemies are rather poor and belonging to some mysterious organization as usual. Quality is ok, but it all feels bland and not interesting.
Overall Rating: 6/10
8. White Album ホワイトアルバム [Seven Arcs] (Finished 13/13)
Tags: Harem, Idols (Female), Music Drama, Romance
Can a relationship between a regular college student and an idol singer survive? That is the question that White Album tries to answer. Touya Fujii is a normal college student with normal worries—namely balancing his classes and his job he works to pay for school. He is also concerned about the amount of time he has to spend with Yuki Morikawa, or rather, the lack of it.
Being an up and coming idol singer, Yuki has concerns of her own. Even though she's not yet as popular as experienced veteran Rina Ogata, Yuki is turning heads and landing interviews on television. This should be a good thing, but not everyone is happy about the attention she receives from the media and from Rina. The idol industry is surprisingly cutthroat, and rival singers have their eyes on Yuki.
While it may seem exciting to watch your girlfriend on television, how does Touya really feel about all this? Between the challenges associated with Yuki's career and other people that Touya meets at his university, their relationship may not last…
All developments at once with naïve protagonist who happens to cheat on everyone is painful to watch, and it's far from masterpiece.
Overall Rating: 6/10
9. Kemono no Souja Erin The Beast Player Erin 獣の奏者エリン [Production I.G, Trans Arts] (Finished 17/50)
Tags: Drama, Fantasy
In the land of Ryoza, the neighboring provinces of Shin-Ou and Tai-Kou have been at peace. Queen Shinou is the ruler of Ryoza and her greatest general, Grand Duke Taikou, defends the kingdom with his army of powerful war-lizards known as the "Touda." Although the two regions have enjoyed a long-standing alliance, mounting tensions threaten to spark a fierce civil war.
Within Ake, a village in Tai-Kou tasked with raising the Grand Duke's army, lives Erin, a bright girl who spends her days watching the work of her mother Soyon, the village's head Touda doctor. But while under Soyon's care, a disastrous incident befalls the Grand Duke's strongest Touda, and the peace that Erin and her mother had been enjoying vanishes as Soyon is punished severely. In a desperate attempt to save her mother, Erin ends up falling in a river and is swept towards Shin-Ou.
Unable to return home, Erin must learn to lead a new life with completely different people, all while hunting for the truth of both beasts and humanity itself, with tensions between the two regions constantly escalating.
It feels as if World Masterpiece Theater made a fantasy series. Naïve small girl experiences village life and finally goes to an adventure only after a whole third is behind.
Overall Rating: 6/10
10. Shikabane Hime: Kuro Corpse Princess: Kuro 屍姫 玄 [Gainax, feel.] (Finished 3/12)
Tags: Shounen Action, Horror, Supernatural
A direct continuation of Shikabane Hime: Aka, taking place six months after Tagami Keisei's death at the hands of the Shichisei (Seven Stars), a group of elite Shikabane who act on more than just regrets. As per Keisei's dying wish, Kagami Ouri formed a temporary contract with Makina to save her from degenerating into a Shikabane. Since then, Ouri's been training to become a proper monk so that he can remain contracted to Makina and help her fight against the Shichisei -- the ones who originally killed Makina, the entire Hoshimura family, and now Keisei. However, the traitorous monk Shishidou Akasha has sided with the Shichisei in an attempt to destroy all Shikabane Hime and the entire monk organization that uses them -- Kougon Sect.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
11. Druaga no Tou: The Sword of Uruk Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk ドルアーガの塔 ～the Sword of URUK～ [Gonzo] (Finished 12/12)
Tags: Adventure, Fantasy
With broken spirits and enigmatic questions that hold no answers lingering, Jil is still trying to figure everything out. Then, a mysterious girl named Kai appears before him and says: "Take me to the top of the tower."
Kai's request shrouded in ambiguity, Jil will have another chance to work towards completing his destiny and ascend the Tower. With his hopes and aspirations seemingly slipping out of his hands, Jil must rise to the challenge once again on this never-ending adventure.
A worthy continuation with filling the leftover gaps even though with somewhat artificial story.
Overall Rating: 8/10
12. Major S5 メジャー [SynergySP] (Finished 1/25)
Tags: Shounen Team Sports
The Baseball World Cup is nearing, and Gorou Honda is eager to represent his country. However, one small problem stands in his way: the team roster has already been selected, and he is not a part of it.
Nonetheless, Gorou remains adamant to join. He becomes a practice pitcher for the Japanese national team, hoping to demonstrate his incredible speed and skills to the team's manager. Fortunately, Gorou is given the chance to prove his worth: he must show an impressive performance in the upcoming practice match involving the veteran Japanese team and the young players who hope to replace them.
The World Cup will bring together some of the strongest players from around the globe. It will also set the stage for Gorou's long-awaited showdown with his longtime rival, Joe Gibson.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
13. Minami-ke Okaeri みなみけ おかえり [asread.] (Finished 13/13)
Tags: Seinen CGDCT, School Comedy, Slice of Life
A year has passed since Okawari and the three sisters have grown up. Their likings and moods are almost the same. Haruka, the older sister, is a love-giving mother to the younger sisters and a discipline follower. Kana, the middle one, leaves everything to the last possible moment and always gives trouble to the trio. Chiaki, the little one, is the calculating and manipulating one; she likes to be admired and loved by Haruka and always gives trouble to the less blessed Kana. Despite being an unbalanced family, they love each other with all their heart. The family's daily life is as funny as ever; trouble and love are always present. Now it's time to see if they'll survive this age change since Haruka is now a young adult; she has even more responsibilities, having to watch over the young while integrating into the adult life.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
14. Tetsuwan Birdy Decode:02 Birdy the Mighty: Decode 02 鉄腕バーディー DECODE:02 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 12/12)
Tags: Seinen Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Following the Ryunka disaster, Tokyo is left in a period of social turmoil. To make matters worse, the group of aliens directly responsible for the catastrophic event have escaped from the Space Federation and are hiding on Earth.
Still sharing a body, Space Federation officer Birdy Cephon Altera, and high schooler, Tsutomu Senkawa, are tasked with capturing the fugitives and bringing them to justice. However, an unexpected crisis develops when the outlaws become targets of an unknown assassin with a vendetta. Now Birdy must deal with the chaos of everyday life and also uncover the identity of the assassin before more escapees fall victim.
Sequel that does not get better, sadly, but another great catchy OP.
Overall Rating: 6/10
15. RideBack ライドバック [Madhouse] (Finished 3/12)
Tags: Seinen Mecha, School Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In the future, an organization called the GGP has taken control of the world. Rin Ogata was a promising up-and-coming ballet dancer, but suffered a serious injury while dancing and decided to quit. Years later in college, she comes across a club building and soon finds herself intrigued by a transforming motorcycle-like robotic vehicle called a "Rideback". She soon finds that her unique ballet skills with balance and finesse make her a born natural on a Rideback. However, those same skills also get her into serious trouble with the government.
Racing on mecha is still just racing which inevitably inherits all the genre flaws.
Overall Rating: 6/10
16. Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai 空を見上げる少女の瞳に映る世界 [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 9/9)
Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy, Romance
To save both the Magical Kingdom and the Heavens and restore the flow of akuto, the flow of energy of everything, the Magical King Munto must follow a vision and find the girl Yumemi in the normal world. Yumemi herself is just a normal girl except that she is the only one who can see the islands of the Heavens floating above. When Munto appears before her she starts thinking about hers and others responsibility to the world.
Same story is retold for the 3rd time, and it's not even that good of a story, and it's still quite confusing.
Overall Rating: 6/10
17. Slayers Evolution-R スレイヤーズ EVOLUTION-R [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/13)
Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
To find a way in rescuing Pokota's country Taforashia which was sealed by Rezo, Lina and her group are in search for the Hellmaster's jar in what the Red Priest placed his soul after death. Zelgadis is willing to do anything to get the jar for changing back into a human while Zuuma is plotting on revenge and accomplishing assignment in killing Lina Inverse. Still a big mystery for her and the others is what Xellos is aiming for in this battle.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
18. Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo The Girl Who Leapt Through Space 宇宙をかける少女 [Sunrise] (Finished 3/26)
Tags: Space Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
The story is set in the year 311 of the Orbital Calendar, when humanity has migrated to countless colony clusters in space. A space colony girl named Akiha Shishidou encounters a malevolent artificial intelligence named Leopard that has been installed on a colony.
Akiha is joined by an Inter-Colony Police officer named Itsuki Kannagi, a taciturn young girl named Honoka Kawai, and a robot named Imoko "Imo-chan" Shishidou.
Sunrise fails again with original scenario. Genre is... variety as it is based on fast succession of something happening just to entertain. This is all very strange and not funny.
Overall Rating: 6/10
19. Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Maria Watches Over Us Season 4 マリア様がみてる〜４th〜 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/13)
Tags: School Drama, Girls Love
Yumi and the Yamayuri Council have found two new helpers in Kanako and Toko. Unfortunately, their assistance comes with tension, as neither girl is particularly fond of the other and both seem likely candidates to be Yumi's petite soeur. Will either be a good fit for Yumi? As the school year marches on, the work for the Yamayuri Council piles up, and pressure begins to mount for Yumi to make her final decision.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
20. Fresh Precure! フレッシュプリキュア！ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/50)
Tags: Mahou Shoujo Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Love Momozono is a 14-year-old student at Yotsuba Junior Highschool that tends to care more for others than for herself. One day she visits a show of the famous dance unit "Trinity" and decides to become a dancer, too. On the same event, subordinates of the Labyrinth Kingdom show up who want to collect the unhappiness of the audience. Love gets the power to change into Cure Peach and fights them. Soon after, she is joined by her good friends Miki, who is Cure Berry, and Inori, who becomes Cure Pine.
Sequel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
21. Genji Monogatari Sennenki Millennium Old Journal: Tale of Genji 源氏物語千年紀Genji [TMS Entertainment, Tezuka Productions] (Finished 2/11)
Tags: Historical Drama, Romance
Born from a much loved, but lowly ranked concubine, Genji Hikaru is called the Shining Prince and is the beloved second son of the Emperor. Although he cannot be an heir to the throne of his father, Genji spends his life surrounded by every pleasure and love. And yet, his one longing in love is something that even the power of an Emperor can never give him.
I find it useful only in education purposes if you never heard of 11th century novel.
Overall Rating: 6/10
22. Viper's Creed ヴァイパーズ・クリード [AIC Spirits, Digital Frontier] (Finished 12/12)
Tags: Military Action, Sci-Fi
The story revolves around the members of a private military company (PMC), and the uneasy tension between them and the regular military after a war that caused massive environmental destruction.
A serious and decent micro-mecha action that still can't be called a masterpiece, because story and characters don't stand out.
Overall Rating: 6/10
23. Examurai Sengoku エグザムライ戦国 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 2/24)
Tags: Martial Arts, Samurai Action, Sci-Fi
The Examurai Sengoku anime production depicts the members of the EXILE group as futuristic samurai that are transported back in time to Japan’s sengoku (warring states) period. The anime character renditions of the EXILE members were designed by manga creator Hiroshi Takahashi (Crows, Worst).
Not translated to English (only to German). Episodes are only ten minutes long, and realization is as of mediocre samurai show that we've seen a lot over this time.
Overall Rating: 6/10
24. Denpa-teki na Kanojo Electromagnetic Girlfriend 電波的な彼女 [Brain's Base] (Finished 2/2)
Tags: School Mystery, Suspense
Delinquent Juu Juuzawa is a lone wolf who does not see much use in befriending people. So when a girl named Ame Ochibana claims they are linked together from their previous lives, he is highly skeptical and doesn't want anything to do with her. Even stranger is that her fondest wish is to be his servant. Thinking that Ame must be delusional, he tries to distance himself from her. But when a classmate is murdered, Juu instead decides to keep her close, believing the strange girl to be the culprit. However, her intelligence and skill begin to prove invaluable as the two begin working together to solve the murder.
Denpa-teki na Kanojo weaves together a story of love, loss, and devotion, showing that allies can be found in the most unlikely of places.
Yay... murder mystery in two episodes... All that sadism makes me sick.
Overall Rating: 6/10
25. Ichigo Mashimaro Encore Strawberry Marshmallow Encore 苺ましまろencore [Daume] (Finished 2/2)
Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei Comedy, Slice of Life
Ichigo Mashimaro encore is a two-episode OVA continues onwards from the previous set of OVAs of Ichigo Mashimaro.
Great again, and again less than an hour overall, so can't rate as high as original.
Overall Rating: 6/10
26. Dokuhaku Suru Universal Yoko Mercator Egg Man Monologues of Universal Transverse Mercator Egg Man 独白するユニバーサル横メルカトル Egg Man [-] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Detective Mystery, Suspense
A psychopathic killer known as Egg Man has been caught, incarcerated and is awaiting his death sentence. Karen, a beautiful and brave police woman, is assigned to the "Egg Man" case to find the whereabouts of a missing dead body. Egg Man meets his cellmate, Prisoner 205. Who is Prisoner 205? Is Prisoner 205 another in-mate awaiting his death sentence as well or an android utilized by the police to collect information about him and his knowledge of the corpse? Who is really manipulating whom?
Not translated, and there's nothing but talks in this machinima, so unwatchable at this state.
Overall Rating: 5/10
27. Kara no Kyoukai Remix: Gate of Seventh Heaven The Garden of Sinners Remix: Gate of Seventh Heaven 空の境界 Remix -Gate of seventh heaven- [ufotable] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Super Power Action, Mystery, Romance, Suspense
In August of 1995, Mikiya Kokutou meets a young kimono-clad woman named Shiki Ryougi. When he finds out that they go to the same school, he attempts to befriend her. Though her upbringing is unconventional and she herself is strange, Mikiya is not deterred, and Shiki gradually opens up to him. But Mikiya's life will be changed forever by this simple meeting, and in ways that he never imagined, as he begins to see a deadly side to his new friend...
Compilation from previous episodes with a shallow attempt to tie all that loose texture. Guess compilation is all that fans deserve for finale.
Overall Rating: 6/10
28. Denshinbashira Elemi no Koi Elemi 電信柱エレミの恋 [Sovat Theater] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Award Winning, Fantasy
Elemi, known as a responsible hard worker, is one of many utility poles servicing a small city. One day during maintenance, she is emotionally touched by Takahashi, the young man who repairs her. She decides to thank him and begins calling him regularly, masquerading as a human.
Days go by and soon all the utility poles in the city are aware of Elemi's budding romance. Elder utility poles urge her to put an end to it. Even if Elemi is able to win the blessing of her society, she still has to face the challenge of revealing her true identity to Takahashi. In a time before cell phones, when all calls were carried by utility poles, Denshinbashira Elemi no Koi tells the story of the tragic romance between a utility pole and and a utility worker.
A plasticine cartoon reflecting on inability to have children with a telephone pole... pretty weird even for the Japanese.
Overall Rating: 6/10
29. Je Bul Chal-ssi Iyagi The Story of Mr. Sorry 제불찰씨 이야기 [Korean Academy of Film Arts] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
An unprecedented media show is on air at a TV broadcasting studio. The show is asking people whether a spider that drove an assemblyman crazy should be publicly executed or not. The spider in question is Je Bul-chal(meaning 'my mistake'), a hardworking young individual who became 'an ear cleaner' because of a precious memory he holds concerning his sister. In order to take a poll about his execution, the story of how Mr. Sorry became a spider is gradually revealed.
Crudely animated Korean social commentary story.
Overall Rating: 5/10
30. Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar: Ima, Fuki ni Yukimasu ピューと吹く! ジャガー ～いま, 吹きにゆきます～ [Kaeruotoko Shokai] (Finished 1/1)
Tags: Gag Humor, Music Comedy
The story follows a hapless budding guitarist nicknamed "Piyohiko" who gets steered into the music business by a mysterious man named Jaguar — if Piyohiko would play a recorder instead of a guitar.
Not translated to English. Ugly, random, not funny.
Overall Rating: 5/10
