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kivandopulus

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  1. kivandopulus
    Ergo Proxy is my favorite anime of the past which is still a full head ahead of most anime, though I see its imperfection nowadays. I also see Fate/stay night and Hellsing Ultimate as minor masterpieces deserving a mention.    1. Fate/stay night   [Studio Deen] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural After a mysterious inferno kills his family, Shirou is saved and adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya, who teaches him the ways of magic and justice. One night, years after Kiritsugu's death, Shirou is cleaning at school, when he finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly encounter between two superhumans known as Servants. During his attempt to escape, the boy is caught by one of the Servants and receives a life-threatening injury. Miraculously, he survives, but the same Servant returns to finish what he started. In desperation, Shirou summons a Servant of his own, a knight named Saber. The two must now participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War, a battle royale of seven Servants and the mages who summoned them, with the grand prize being none other than the omnipotent Holy Grail itself. Fate/stay night follows Shirou as he struggles to find the fine line between a hero and a killer, his ideals clashing with the harsh reality around him. Will the boy become a hero like his foster father, or die trying? Another honorary masterpiece, as for me. It's good to know the story, and anime is more accessible than visual novel. Despite the schematic nature of the story with battle royale and generic names of servants, enough life and passion is poured in the contents. But second season of such battle royale or its spin-offs would look totally alien to me as meager attempts to parasite.   Overall Rating: 7/10   2. Ergo Proxy エルゴプラクシー [Manglobe] (Finished 23/23) Tags: Psychological Mystery, Sci-Fi Within the domed city of Romdo lies one of the last human civilizations on Earth. Thousands of years ago, a global ecological catastrophe doomed the planet; now, life outside these domes is virtually impossible. To expedite mankind's recovery, "AutoReivs," humanoid-like robots, have been created to assist people in their day-to-day lives. However, AutoReivs have begun contracting an enigmatic disease called the "Cogito Virus," which grants them self-awareness. Re-l Mayer, the granddaughter of Romdo's ruler, is assigned to investigate this phenomenon alongside her AutoReiv partner, Iggy. But what begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a conspiracy as Re-l is confronted by humanity's darkest sins. Elsewhere in Romdo, an AutoReiv specialist by the name of Vincent Law must also face his demons when surreal events begin occurring around him. Re-l, Iggy, Vincent, and the child AutoReiv named Pino will form an unlikely faction as they struggle to uncover Romdo's mysteries and discover the true purpose of the mythical beings called "Proxies." I considered it to be not only perfect masterpiece, but also first suggestion for those who consider anime childish cartoons. Having rewatched it now, my eye finds quite a few imperfections and an unsatisfying Evangelion-like ending. I still love the characters, the style and those great filler episodes in the middle that aim to become the best filler episodes in the world. Yet the whole mystery concept and story are lacking on a larger scale. It's thought provoking all right, but imperfect, and I have a score exactly for such cases.   Overall Rating: 9/10   3. Rec レック [Shaft] (Finished 9/9) Tags: Seinen Showbiz Comedy, Drama, Romance After being stood up for a movie date, marketing employee Fumihiko Matsumaru is about to throw away his tickets when he is stopped by a girl who implores him to let her accompany him instead. Thanks to his upbeat and eccentric companion Aka Onda, an aspiring voice actress, Fumihiko enjoys his evening. While walking home together, they find out that they live in the same neighborhood. Mere hours later, Fumihiko wakes up from a nightmare and hears sirens outside his window. Going outside to check the situation, he sees that Aka's apartment has burned down, along with all her possessions. Fumihiko invites the distressed Aka to stay at his place, leading to them sleeping together. In the aftermath of that fateful night, their personal and professional lives become inextricably intertwined. Not only do they begin living together platonically despite their one-night stand, they also discover that Aka will be voicing the mascot Fumihiko designed for his company's newest product. While trying to keep their live-in relationship under wraps for fear of scrutiny, the two begin to support each other throughout the difficulties in their respective careers. I've seen it twice now, and it's hard to distinguish it - it's weak as romance or comedy or drama. But as niche SOL it definitely loses to Genshike and even to Animation Runner Kuromi. It's a decent anime, but my tongue can't twist to call it a masterpiece. It comes as a light fling and goes without leaving memories.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora 半分の月がのぼる空 [Group TAC] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance Group TAC After contracting hepatitis A, Ezaki Yuuichi has been confined to a hospital, away from his friends and family, much to his displeasure. To relieve his boredom, he has taken to sneaking out of the hospital, usually putting himself on the receiving end of a beating from his nurse. Upon meeting a girl his age also staying in the hospital, he is immediately captivated by her beauty. Akiba Rika's personality is not quite as captivating as her beauty however. In fact, she is rather selfish, moody, and bossy. But as the two spend more time with each other, they become closer, sharing the ordinary joys and trials of a budding teenage romance, even when darkened with impending tragedy—for Rika's condition does not leave her much longer to live. I can't stand all those stories about terminal stage of some illness. It's possible to make it work, but not this time as there is no magic in here.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror 怪～ayakashi～ Japanese Classic Horror [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Adult Cast, Historical Fantasy, Horror, Mystery A collection of three classic Japanese horror stories: "Yotsuya Kaidan", the story of a wife betrayed by her husband who seeks vengeance even in death. "Tenshu Monogatari", the story of forbidden love between a goddess and a human, and "Bakeneko", the story of a mysterious cat monster with a vendetta against a certain family. Nothing special, just Heian weird stuff.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Major S2 メジャー (第2シリーズ) [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Team Sports Gorou Honda has finally returned to Mifune East Junior High School, surprising his friends upon arrival. Now, Gorou is once again surrounded by those he holds closest, and he strives to continue playing and enjoying the game he loves most. However, things do not go as planned, as Gorou is reminded of the harsh realities of baseball as he copes with an injury he sustained while playing baseball at Hitaka Little. Between new rivals, old friends, and mending broken relationships, Gorou must overcome challenges he has never faced before. His goal of attending elite baseball high school Kaido may not be far from his reach, but complicated circumstances may stop him in his tracks once again. How will he deal with the immense pressures of the game? And will he ever be able to find the type of baseball he loves most? Feels rather generic apart of cheeky brat protagonist.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Amaenaide yo!! Katsu!! Ah My Buddha Katsu あまえないでよっ!! 喝!! [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Harem Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi In this sequel, a girl named Kazusano Kazuki joins up with the 6 girls and Ikko. With Kazuki around, Ikko will find himself in more embarrassing situations with these priestesses-in-training. The Buddhist perverts are back, can't say I'm happy about the fact.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl Girl Meets Girl かしまし〜ガール・ミーツ・ガール〜 [Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Love Polygon, Magical Sex Shift, School Comedy, Drama, Girls Love, Romance  Hazumu was a shy boy who enjoyed gardening, collecting herbs, and long walks in the mountains. One day he finally worked up the courage to confess his love to Yasuna, but she rejected him. Depressed, he wandered up Mt. Kashimayama, the place where they first met, to reconsider his feelings. After getting lost, he wished upon a shooting star and received a bizarre twist of fate. Now he is a she, and she stumbles headfirst back into social life and relationships only to find that the entire landscape has changed! Serious girls love drama is so weird, guess I need stronger comedy flavor to tolerate it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Magikano マジカノ [Tokyo Kids] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Harem Comedy, Fantasy, Romance Ayumi Mamiya is a witch cursed to lose her powers and only one boy can break the spell. Haruo Yoshikawa thinks he is a normal boy but unknown to him his three sisters have magical powers and keep him protected and ignorant about the existence of magic. Now Ayumi must wake up Haruo's latent powers to save herself but his sisters will have none of that. Another silly variation of Shuffle or something very close. Incredibly irritating as everything is wrong and cheesy here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Kage kara Mamoru! Guardian Ninja Mamoru 陰からマモル！ [Group TAC] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance  Kagemori Mamoru is a dowdy boy whose hair is disheveled and who wears thick glasses, but he is actually the son of a ninja family. They have protected their neighbors, the Konnyaku family, secretly for 400 years. Mamoru has personally protected their daughter, Konnyaku Yuuna, since they were in kindergarten. When Yuuna is in trouble, Mamoru puts on ninja suit and turns into a competent ninja to help her. Another silly comedy, but at least watchable and just having specific humor which is still not to my liking. Actually, can't remember any ninja related anime that I'd really like.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Yomigaeru Sora: Rescue Wings よみがえる空 -Rescue Wings- [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Adult Cast, Military, Workplace Drama Kazuhiro Uchida is transferred to a rescue centre located in a small town while training to become a fighter pilot. Initially, Kazuhiro thinks negatively about his new occupation, due to the difficult missions and the harsh discipline he receives from his seniors. However, over the course of his training, he begins to accept the job for what it is and becomes a true member of the rescue force. Just SOL about niche occupation. I more or less could understand if it was about a girl, but in the current state I fail to understand motivation to watch it as there's no story, no comedy, no heartwarming, no sophisticated drama... show like this can be shot about any occupation, and I just would not want to watch such shows.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Futari wa Precure: Splash☆Star ふたりはプリキュア Splash☆Star [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/49) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Action, Comedy, Fantasy During the summer festival five years ago, two girls met at a mysterious tree and saw two glowing spheres. Now, these two girls--Saki Hyuuga, ace pitcher on the school softball team; and Mai Mishou, who prefers sketching over stargazing--are chosen by the spirits of flowers (Flappy) and birds (Choppy) to restore the Seven Fountains and save their worlds from Dark Autumn. Together, they are the NEW Pretty Cure. Spin-off. I liked down to earth parts more. First episodes are just fantasy fighting ridiculous opponents, but I guess school comes back later.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Binchou-tan びんちょうタン  [Studio Deen] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Iyashikei Comedy This is a story about a little girl who lives in an old house in the mountains. Her name is Bincho-tan. Each episode depicts a day in the life of Bincho-tan as she prepares her breakfast in the morning, goes to the forest to gather vegetables, does her household chores and rests at night after a day's work. She is surrounded by a group of close friends who add color to her ordinary yet simple life. Cute blobs do their cute stuff. And that's not bad, it fulfils relaxation role ok if you come here for it. But if you're in for the story... I have bad news for ya.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Tactical Roar タクティカルロア [Actas] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Military Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi In the near future the world's climate shifted creating in the Western Pacific a perpetual super cyclone: the Grand Roar that altered the earth, flooding most countries. Shipping and navigation became important to nations and following the appearance of ocean pirates, necessisated companies to hire escort cruisers to safeguard their investments. Hyousuke Nagimiya is a system engineer that was comissioned to upgrade the Pascal Magi manned by an entire crew of women with its captain, Misaki Nanaha. Together the crew strives to prove themselves to their detractors that they are no mere 'Alice Brand'. Yet as they go about their mission a larger global conspiracy seems to be working behind the scenes to take advantage of this new world order. It's goofy ecchi comedy with poor parody-like characters and situations. Its SOL part is plain and bad, but the tactical dimension in the second episode failed to impress either.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Nerima Daikon Brothers 練馬大根ブラザーズ [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Music Comedy In the town of Nerima, the boisterous Hideki and his stoic brother Ichiro run a daikon radish farm along with Mako, their bubbly but vain cousin. The three dream of raising the money needed to build their own concert hall, where their band—Nerima Daikon Brothers—would perform and hopefully rise to stardom. But their farm and Ichiro's host club job aren't raising money fast enough for their liking, leading them to resort to get-rich-quick schemes. Their plans usually involve tracking down evil-doers and then stealing their ill-gotten gains. Yet, while they usually do put a stop to the villains, they always end the day no richer than before. However, neither these failures nor interference from the policewoman Yukika Karakuri can come between this trio and their dream! With help from gadgets provided by the rental shop owner Nabeshin, the Nerima Daikon Brothers get themselves into and out of all kinds of ridiculous situations through their boisterous singing and comedy. Nonsense weird comedy that constantly bursts into couple phrases sung, then continues as usual. I guess it can be entertaining on some level, but definitely not for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Kagi Hime Monogatari: Eikyuu Alice Rondo Eternal Alice 鍵姫物語 永久アリス輪舞曲 [Trinet Entertainment, Picture Magic] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Fantasy  Average high school student Aruto Kirihara is obsessed with the Alice stories, written in this alternate world by the enigmatic recluse, Alternite L. Tachyon. One night, while writing his own version of a potential "third book," he sees a girl flying in front of a full moon... and she looks just like the "Alice" in his imagination. Aruto runs out of his house and chases the flying figure from the ground, ending up at a library, where he witnesses her in combat with another costumed girl. And so begins his sudden introduction to the world of Alices, an elite club of super-powered teenage girls who regularly fight in an extra-dimensional Wonderland in order to steal each other's "hidden stories." When all of the stories have been gathered, they will form the legendary third volume, "Eternal Alice," and the possessor will be granted one wish. It probably won't be Aruto, who can't turn into a magical girl. But it could be his doting little sister, Kiraha. Or maybe the girl of his dreams, Arisu... All this Alicization is so silly that I'm going to drop it after a single episode again as there's only averageness and zero potential.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Lemon Angel Project レモン エンジェル プロジェクト [Radix] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Idols (Female), Music Drama Lemon Angel was once the greatest girl band of Japan, but then it broke up and most of its members vanished. When a music producer decides to put together a new Lemon Angel, average high schooler Tomo Minaguchi is approached to audition for the group. Little does she know of the mystery behind the original Lemon Angel... This is a stereotypical idol project with super good and super evil guys, as well as rather boring idols themselves. And it's probably the first case when I hate voice acting of protagonist so much as voice is absolutely plain from a typical Japanese in real life. Also this total clutz characteristic adds irritation. Production is above average, so it can be slightly enjoyed if you already have idol affinity. But it's best to avoid it completely and stick to better representatives of the genre.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Ginyuu Mokushiroku Meine Liebe Wieder 吟遊黙示録マイネリーベ ヴィーダー [Bee Train] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Fantasy The Strahl candidates are enjoying a brief holiday in their various homes. However, many surprises await them when they finally come back to their elite boarding school: Rosenstolz Academy. There is a new headmaster, and his policies are not necessarily to the advantage of the main characters. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Kinnikuman II Sei: Ultimate Muscle 2 キン肉マンII世 ULTIMATE MUSCLE 2 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Combat Sports, Martial Arts Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Sports Mantaro has made it to the semifinal match of the Chojin Cup. He must now fight Ricardo in a soccer field to advance to the last match. Kevin Mask is also in the semifinals, and must defeat Ilioukhine in an aerial field to advance. These three matches will determine who wins the Chojin Cup. Continuation.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Papillon Rose パピヨンローゼ [Studio Kelmadick] (Finished 2/6) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, Parody Comedy, Ecchi The story takes place one year after the OVA. Because of the previous war, Kabucki-cho was devastated, and the owner abandoned his lingerie pub, "Pallion," and opened "New Papillion" in Akihabara. During the war, Tsubomi, and her colleagues Anne and Shizuku lost their memories, and they began new lives in Akihabara. On the other hand, the Susano, aliens who were invading the Earth, appeared. They turned a UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) into a monster and make it raid on Akihabara. Rama the cat made Tsubomi and her buddies retrieve their memories, and let them fight against the monster as Lingerie Soldiers. Pure averageness with some parody stupidity added.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Youkai Ningen Bem (2006) Humanoid Monster Bem 妖怪人間ベム [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mythology Horror, Supernatural The plot of the series revolves around three youkai, Bem, Bera and Barro, who arrive at a large coastal city and come across an evil atmosphere, which was brought about by immoral behavior by humans and mischief caused by monsters and youkai. They therefore decide to stay in the city, fighting against other monsters and yōkai which attack humans, making a few friends in the way. Even though the three youkai are often abused by other human beings due to their appearance, they still strive in protecting the human populace of the city from other monsters, one day hoping to become human beings in return for their good actions. I'm usually against resurrections of old franchises as in most cases they are too morally old despite any visual upgrades. Good only to get acquainted with classics without torturing the eyes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Rakugo Tennyo Oyui 落語天女おゆい [TNK] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Historical, Performing Arts Comedy Five girls including Yui Tsukishima were summoned into the end of Edo period by the power of mystic stones jewel (known as Hojous'). They became the current Tennyo replacing the previous Tennyo who fell in battle. Through the use of their powers, and "the Power of Word," they fight back the two demon brothers who sought to destroy humankind, using the powers they've gained. This story is about a true to life Rakugo Storyteller (named Utamaru Katsura) who wants nothing more then to make Yui (a very happy cheerful girl) an capable professional in the "art of Rakugoing." In otherwords, a comedy, with a punchline told in a story. There are quite a few decent anime about girls impersonating warriors during Warring states or Edo period. This is not one of them.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Xingji Biaoche Wang Galaxy Racers 星际飙车王 [-] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Racing Action, Adventure Set in the future on the Yellow River Planet, the realm of car racing has advanced beyond Formula One - into the domain of the Galaxy Racers. Riders steer their simulator-racers which remotely control the actual customized speedsters hurtling around a track. The hero, a teenager named Roy, was born to race and aspires to be the King of Galaxy Racers. But his guardian, his grandfather, sees a threat from and great danger in the evil and greedy Taz, the CEO of the Titan Space Navigation Auto Group which seeks to swallow or destroy all competitors, and whose Mosha Racing Team would just as ruthlessly run over and crush Roy under its thundering wheels. He arranges for him to join the good guys in the Matela Racing Team to race for the highest honors. Many years ago, Ray’s father, Dr Renault, worked for the Titan Group and he invented the Galaxy Racers but he was against CEO Taz’s destructive greed. He tries to escape - and disappears! Monopolizing the technology and construction of the Racers, Taz, the Titan Group and Mosha Racing Team swallowed, crushed and beat all rival companies, racers and teams. Desperately, Ray’s grandfather uses a secret design hidden by Dr Renault from Taz and builds for him a superior racer, The Lion King. But he has first to learn the skills and garner experience from racing at the highest levels. To acquire these qualities plus humility and resilience, he relies on his Matela friends who have their own cool cars, to help him. But arrayed against them are the Mosha baddies and their menacing machines. In a series of hair-raising and nail-biting races with thrills & spills, growling engines, screeching wheels, burning rubber, smashing metal against metal, intense bitter rivalry, persevering friendships & loyalties forged in grueling teamwork and battle, Ray and Team Matela must conquer their fears and overcome the arrogant and powerful Team Mosha which uses cheating as a winning strategy. Will justice prevail or evil triumph? Find out on The Galaxy Racers on a track near you! Chinese. Childish. SPEED racing. Using horrendous 3D animation.  Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Meng Li Ren The Dreaming Girl 夢裡人 [Drama] (Finished 0/1) Tags: - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   25. Hellsing Ultimate HELLSING OVA [Madhouse, Satelight, Graphinica] (Finished 10/10) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Gore, Military, Vampire Action, Horror, Supernatural There exist creatures of darkness and evil that plague the night, devouring any human unfortunate enough to be caught in their grasp. On the other side is Hellsing, an organization dedicated to destroying these supernatural forces that threaten the very existence of humanity. At its head is Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, who commands a powerful military and spends her life fighting the undead. Integra's vast army, however, pales in comparison with her ultimate weapon: the vampire Alucard, who works against his own kind as an exterminator for Hellsing. With his new vampire servant, Seras Victoria, at his side, Alucard must battle not only monsters, but all those who stand to oppose Hellsing, be they in the guise of good or evil. In a battle for mankind's survival, Hellsing Ultimate proves that appearances are not all they may seem, and sometimes the greatest weapon can come in the form of one's worst nightmare. As I see it, OVA allows episodes of any length, usually guarantees visual improvements and is free from restrictions such as on gore. I see OVA as glamourized version, bringing both positive and negative sides to extremes, thus it's called Ultimate. And in return it loses the innate charm of the original. Since I don't care about coolness and flashy stuff, I prefer original, and OVA is only a secondary product for me, so it's only natural that it gets a lower score. It was important to popularize anime world-wide back then, but story is told much better in original, as for me.   Overall Rating: 7/10   26. Dai Mahou Touge Magical Witch Punie-Chan 大魔法峠 [Diomedéa] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Gag Humor, Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural Punie is next in line to become queen of Magical Land. However, she must spend a year on Earth before she can inherit the throne, so she transfers into a school in Japan. She's usually a sweet and gentle girl... that is unless someone does something to displease her, then she'll drop the act. She won't hesitate to whip out her magic stick and cheerfully rain bloody destruction down on the hapless fool, or barring that, simply use wrestling moves she calls "Submission" to punish them. Accompanied by her animal mascot Paya-tan, who makes regular attempts on her life (still bitter about being defeated and then forcibly recruited from Waku Waku Mascot Village), and forced to fend off random attacks by various people from her Kingdom who all have different reasons for wanting her dead, she must complete this year of training on Earth without fail. I dislike parodies as a genre. This one is on the better end, but I still can't appreciate its weird humor and randomness.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Kyou no 5 no 2 Today in Class 5-2 今日の５の２[Shinkuukan, Lilix] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Ecchi Kyou no Go no Ni revolves around Sato Ryota, a 5th grader in an elementary school. He is a bright and active boy but always manages to get in to a bit of ecchi trouble with his female classmates. A lot depends on whether you can stand multiple sketch shows or not as each episode has some four 5-minute sketches like in Azumanga. Basically, if all sketches were split into individual short episodes, I'd even skip this in entirety. Not finding these sketches with ecchi context any fun.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Ar Tonelico: Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsuzukeru Shoujo アルトネリコ 世界の終わりで詩い続ける少女 [Trans Arts] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Based on the RPG game of the same name. Aurica Nestmile is a young Reyvateil, or "singing maiden" who feels her song magic is not of much use to anyone. From high up on the tower Ar Tonelico comes Lyner Barsett, whose airship is totaled upon impact with the ground. These two meet up, and in the search for someone who can repair the ship, end up helping both each other and themselves. 20-minute promo, so can't be treated seriously.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Sin in the Rain [Mook Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mystery  It is raining in Tokyo at night. A woman, named Kimura Yu, is caught in the rain. She has had lots of trauma in her life, because her parents were killed, and to make things worse she experiences another tragedy, her reliable councilor, Kanzaki, is killed. But Yu is "saved" by a mysterious detective named Takamizawa Kyosuke. I only have one word to say. Why?   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Memories Off #5 Togireta Film The Animation Memories Off #5 とぎれたフィルム THE ANIMATION [Doga Kobo] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Romance  Kawai Haruto belongs to a cinema club to realize his dream to make his own movie. But he is losing his passion of the movie because Hina Yusuke, his best friend as well as a good rival, died suddenly last year. One day, he meets Sendo Mahiro. She asks him to make a movie with her. Also she says that she was at the place where Yusuke died, and that he died because of her. On the other hand, Yusuke’s little sister Hina Asuka blames him for killing her brother. Necrophilia has taken place of love triangle as main theme in memories off series. Without brilliant execution it reeks of fake.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Cream Lemon: New Generation くりぃむレモン ニュージェネレーション [Radix] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Drama, Romance  A remake of the old Cream Lemon OVA series. I was surprised to find it not in Hentai, and it indeed does not belong there. It's basically same episodic hentai fantasy stories as in older prequels, but without the H part itself. Corny innuendo is fine, but guess it was not as popular as it's the last part of the series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Haru no Ashioto The Movie: Ourin Dakkan はるのあしおと The Movie - 桜鈴奪還 [Asahi Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Action, Comedy One day the else so peaceful mood in the Ourin Gakuen suddenly changes. Kusunoki-sensei, the so-called subheroine, along with most of the students takes over the school after a coup d'état. The principal is beaten and now it`s up to Yuu Sakurano, Yuzuki Kaede and Nagomi Fujikura to take back the school from her and return it to the former peaceful days. This is the start of a full-scale war, one that this school has never seen before. A hectic mess.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Giniro no Kami no Agito Origin: Spirits of the Past 銀色の髪のアギト [Gonzo] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi  Three hundred years ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the mutation of all forests on Earth. Armed with consciousness, the vegetation sought to destroy all of humankind, and the war that ensued turned the planet into a hellish dystopia. In the present day, Agito, a young boy, lives with his father in Neutral City—a village maintaining an uneasy truce with the neighboring forest. One day, Agito, on his way to collect water, becomes separated from his friend and stumbles upon a relic of the past: a girl sleeping in a mysterious machine. Agito awakens the girl, Toola Cm Sacl, and introduces her to the village. But outside forces have ulterior motives for the girl, who holds the key to restore the Earth. Misguided by Shunack, a soldier from the old world hellbent on destroying the forest, Toola follows him despite Agito's warning. Determined to save Toola and unify humankind with the forest, Agito borrows the power of the forest and pursues her. Another post-apocalypse and confrontation between nature and technology. But accent is on constant running and jumping rather than on the story or characters, so it's so-so even despite high overall quality.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  2. kivandopulus
    Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is revolutionary anime in several ways, so for me it has the upper hand over Black Lagoon which is also a great masterpiece, but in more mundane , complex and adult way. Lots of titles in Spring season, but I can't vouch for the rest.   1. Ouran Koukou Host Club Ouran High School Host Club 桜蘭高校ホスト部 [Bones] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shoujo Crossdressing, Reverse Harem, School Comedy, Romance Haruhi Fujioka is a studious girl who has recently enrolled at the prestigious Ouran Academy. One day, while looking for a quiet and peaceful place to study, she stumbles across a seemingly unused music room. Upon entering, Haruhi is welcomed by the members of the well-known Host Club: a club in which attractive boys amuse girls from across the entire school. However, when Tamaki Suou—the founder and president of the club—startles the bright scholarship student, she accidentally breaks an expensive vase. With repayment looking difficult for Haruhi, the Host Club members come up with the perfect solution to the girl's problem: work for the club and ultimately become a Host herself! Mistaken for a boy by her peers, Haruhi has to entertain various female students while coping with her fellow Hosts' extravagant personalities. I've understood recently that Reverse Harem is the tag that I should block as there is not a single such work that I like. As far as I understand, this is one of the most popular representatives, and that's more than enough for me to know. Not finding it funny or entertaining or valuable in any way.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Gintama 銀魂 [Sunrise] (Finished 204/204) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Historical, Parody, Samurai Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Edo is a city that was home to the vigor and ambition of samurai across the country. However, following feudal Japan's surrender to powerful aliens known as the "Amanto," those aspirations now seem unachievable. With the once-influential shogunate rebuilt as a puppet government, a new law is passed that promptly prohibits all swords in public. Enter Gintoki Sakata, an eccentric silver-haired man who always carries around a wooden sword and maintains his stature as a samurai despite the ban. As the founder of Yorozuya, a small business for odd jobs, Gintoki often embarks on endeavors to help other people—though usually in rather strange and unforeseen ways. Assisted by Shinpachi Shimura, a boy with glasses supposedly learning the way of the samurai; Kagura, a tomboyish girl with superhuman strength and an endless appetite; and Sadaharu, their giant pet dog who loves biting on people's heads, the Yorozuya encounter anything from alien royalty to scuffles with local gangs in the ever-changing world of Edo. I've watched everything from Gintama, at least everything to my awareness. And I liked less than 10% out of it all, mainly some plot advancing episodes and rare comedy episodes. I the end I only consider some Gintama movies to be worthy.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Black Lagoon  [Madhouse (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Organized Crime  Salaryman Rokurou Okajima spends his days trying to climb his company's corporate ladder, until one day when a business negotiation in Thailand goes awry. During the botched deal, he falls hostage to the Lagoon Company—a band of ruthless pirate mercenaries. Left to the whims of his captors after his managers refuse to pay his ransom, Rokurou does the unthinkable: instead of begging for his life, he joins the very crew who kidnapped him. Now a member of the group, Rokurou must adjust to his new residence in the dissolute hellscape known as Roanapur, a city where corruption and crime run rampant, and even the smallest slipup could cost him his life. If not for one of the many crime syndicates on the island, Rokurou also constantly finds himself at odds with his brash, gunslinging colleague, Revy. As Rokurou struggles to abandon his past—and with more than just the profits from the Lagoon Company's illegal trading on the line—he must quickly find the resolve to make tough decisions in high-stress situations while keeping his humanity intact. Always loved Black Lagoon - it's seinen, thought provoking and cool. Can't call it perfect or having an integral interesting story, though.   Overall Rating: 9/10   4. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 14/14) Tags: School Award Winning, Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life If a survey were conducted to see if people believed in aliens, time travelers, or maybe espers, most would say they do not; average high school student Kyon considers himself among the non-believers. However, on his first day of school, he meets a girl who soon turns his world upside down. During class introductions, the beautiful Haruhi Suzumiya boldly announces her boredom with "normal" people and her intention of meeting supernatural beings. Dumbfounded, Kyon learns of her frustration with the lack of paranormal-focused clubs at their school and unwittingly inspires her to start her own club. She creates the Spreading Fun all Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, otherwise known as the SOS Brigade. Following the SOS Brigade's founding, Haruhi manages to recruit Kyon and three other members: quiet bookworm Yuki Nagato, shy upperclassman Mikuru Asahina, and perpetually positive Itsuki Koizumi. Despite their normal appearance, the new members of the SOS Brigade each carry their own secrets related to Haruhi. Caught up in the mystery surrounding the eccentric club leader, Kyon is whisked away on a series of misadventures by Haruhi and the SOS Brigade, each one bringing him closer to the truth about who and what she is. Again, can't call Haruhi perfect, but it's definitely something unique and intelligent.   Overall Rating: 9/10   5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni ひぐらしのなく頃に [Studio Deen] (Finished 6/26) Tags: Gore, Psychological Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense  Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about the local legends surrounding it. To his horror, he discovers that there have been several murders and disappearances in the village in the recent years, and that they all seem to be connected to the festival and the village's patron god, Oyashiro. Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the answers he needs. As more and more bizarre events occur, he wonders just what else his friends might be keeping from him, and if he can even trust them at all. When madness and paranoia begin taking root in Keiichi's heart, he will stumble straight into the mysteries at work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a story that is told across multiple arcs. I tried Higurashi a lot of times, but inevitably fell asleep out of boredom and confusion. And since it does not provide a normal story while substituting it with constant time resets, I'm absolutely not interested in this writer's self-satisfaction. Lazy concept.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Nana NANA [ナナ] [Madhouse] (Finished 2/47) Tags: Shoujo Adult Cast, Love Polygon, Music Drama, Romance Departing from their respective hometowns, two young women with identical names are brought together in their pursuit of new beginnings. With their hearts set on going to Tokyo, Nana Komatsu dreams about blissful love, while Nana Osaki aims for a successful music career. The former has a cheerful and friendly nature, but her naivety has steered her romantic life astray until she meets her dependable boyfriend—Shouji Endo. Without letting herself be dismayed by Shouji's decision to study in Tokyo, Nana works hard to earn enough money and follow him there. Meanwhile, her namesake is a solitary punk vocalist whose impassioned romance with her band's bassist, Ren Honjou, comes to a sudden end. Though heartbroken, Nana bravely looks forward and travels to the capital with the ambition of becoming a recognized artist. Shortly after they arrive in Tokyo, the girls cross paths again due to an unexpected coincidence that ultimately leads them to live under the same roof. As they grow closer, the two strive to support one another amid their struggles to forge a future for themselves. I understand that it's popular, but I can't stand the visuals and the personalities here. Not sure I'd tolerate this kind of naivete and flow of thoughts even if it was redrawn .   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Air Gear エア・ギア [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Shounen Action, Ecchi  Air Trecks, also known as AT, are motorized and futuristic inline skates that are the new craze taking the nation by storm. Although each AT comes with a speed limiter, a community of daredevils known as the "Storm Riders" are brave enough to tamper with the device. Utilizing AT's in underground battles, individual teams wager valuable AT parts or team emblems—their symbol of pride—to dominate the streets. Living in this era is Itsuki Minami, a middle school student notorious for engaging in street fights. Always wanting to reach heights no one else is able to, the reckless punk will break through any obstacle that stands in his way, alongside his best friends Kazuma Mikura and Onigiri. However, it is when he discovers a pair of Air Trecks in his house that the path to his true desire finally opens: to rule the skies. Such a barebones cheeky shounen that I've no idea how it can attract anyone.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. xxxHOLiC ×××HOLiC（ホリック） [Production I.G] (Finished 6/24) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural Kimihiro Watanuki can see spirits and other assorted supernatural creatures, which is quite a bothersome ability he strongly dislikes. On the way home one day, while plagued by some spirits, he is inexplicably compelled to enter a strange house. There, he encounters Yuuko, a mysterious woman who claims to be able to rid him of the ability to see and attract the troublesome creatures—for a price. She demands that he work at her "store" that grants wishes to people, and thus begins Watanuki's adventures through weird and wonderful events. Internet obsession episode put the last nail to this coffin. It's not interesting and situations are just ridiculously silly. There's no even story, just episodic cases with some random weird humor. And I dislike all the characters with their gimmicks. It's just bad.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Utawarerumono うたわれるもの [OLM] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  An injured man is found in the woods by a girl named Eruruu, and everything about him is mysterious. Without knowledge of his past nor even his own name, he is welcomed to Eruruu's home and is given the name Hakuoro by her grandmother, and younger sister, Aruruu. While the inhabitants of the village have large ears and tails, Hakuoro's defining physical trait is quite different as he has neither ears nor tail, but only a mask that he cannot remove. Soon after he becomes a part of the villagers' lives, a revolution against the tyrannical emperor of the land begins, and the conflict finds its way to his new home. Hakuoro must do whatever he can to save the people and the village that he has come to love, all while uncovering the mysteries that shroud his past. Original game was super boring except for deus ex machina in the finale, and mechanics were just trash. Sadly, anime is same horrible - very long and muddy development, slightly changed ending and zero good traits as I don't like characters, and story can be easily skipped. There's no way I can recommend this.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. School Rumble Ni Gakki School Rumble: 2nd Semester スクールランブル 二学期 [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Love Polygon, School Comedy, Romance We still have no idea what's really going on with this show, beyond the fact that the weirdness is piling up! Curry-fiend Karasama remains oblivious to Tenma's crush, and Harima still hasn't confessed his true feelings to Tenma. But hey, the thug's got an excuse since he's caught up with his comic career and knee-deep in a blizzard of deadlines! Meanwhile, the love triangles are ever-shifting thanks to wannabe cupids and runaway brides. Even when you throw in a bit of cyborg love, a shipwreck, and a fugitive red panda–seriously, that ain't even scratching the surface. You are encouraged to scratch the pig, though. He likes it! And something rumbles in the next to last episode, no matter what I say next. School Rumble–The absolutely funniest show you’ll ever see that's not about anything that rumbles... Ever! Sequel with lots of specific humor which is not to my taste.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Strawberry Panic ストロベリー・パニック [Madhouse] (Finished 1/26) Tags: School Drama, Girls Love, Romance  Nagisa Aoi begins her new school life as a transfer student at St. Miator’s Girls Academy, one of three prestigious all-girls institutions atop Astraea Hill. Getting lost on her first day, Nagisa encounters a mysterious student whose elegance and charm is so bewitching, she ends up in the infirmary. There to greet her when she awakens is Tamao Suzumi, her roommate, who enthusiastically introduces Nagisa to the daily life and social structure on campus. Most notably, Tamao informs her of the existence of an exceptional student representative among all three schools—the Etoile, or "star." Eager to meet this person, Nagisa learns that the ethereal beauty she met earlier, Shizuma Hanazono, is the one and only Etoile herself! Not only that, Shizuma seems openly interested in Nagisa! Her interactions with Shizuma naturally make her a hot topic on campus; yet despite being so captivated, Nagisa can’t help but wonder if something is off. Strawberry Panic! follows the everyday routines of Nagisa, Shizuma, and her friends at St. Miator’s, St. Spica, and St. Lulim as they navigate through the challenge of relationships while confronting hidden feelings, lingering regrets, and new possibilities. As expected, can't appreciate serious Girls Love without comedy.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Tsubasa Chronicle 2nd Season Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Season Two ツバサ・クロニクル 第2シリーズ [Bee Train] (Finished 2/26) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, Fai and Mokona's journey through to different world's continue as they search for Sakura's feathers. The fated journey slowly becomes more complicated for our travelers, as they find themselves diving deeper into more dangerous worlds. Takes place immediately after the first season. Based on the manga by CLAMP. Did not like original, did not like xxxHOLiC, do not feel like gathering some feathers with this poor cast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Witchblade ウィッチブレイド [Gonzo] (Finished 5/24) Tags: Super Power Action, Sci-Fi Masane Amaha and her daughter Rihoko are on the run from a government child welfare agency that wants to take Rihoko away from her mother. They are caught and Rihoko is taken away. Meanwhile, Masane is attacked by an advanced weapon that can disguise itself as a human being. When faced with the danger, a strange light emits from her wrist and she transforms into a powerful being. She destroys the weapon and consequently becomes involved in a power struggle between powerful organizations, with her at the center of their attention. Because she holds the greatest power of them all, the legendary Witchblade. Gonzo usually guarantees high visual quality, including this case. And I don't care if it's fanservice'ish provided that story is good. And what I see is just working for some organization and investigating new cases after acquiring superpower. What I get is another monster of the week story without any exceptional traits, and thus it can't be recommended.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Saiunkoku Monogatari The Story of Saiunkoku 彩雲国物語 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Shoujo Historical, Reverse Harem Adventure, Fantasy, Romance Shuurei Kou, the daughter of a noble yet impoverished family, is a clever young lady who dreams of becoming a government official and contributing toward her country. However, her dream is out of her reach as such a position is forbidden to women. While her father works a low wage job as an archivist at the palace, Shuurei has to juggle odd jobs to make ends meet. Then, one day, an unexpected visit changes her life. Shuurei is called to assist Ryuuki Shi, the new emperor who is known for slacking on his duties and preferring the company of men. Tempted by the generous compensation, she readily accepts the chance to become the young emperor's consort for six months. Luckily, she is not alone as Seiran Shi, her trusty friend, joins her as Ryuuki's bodyguard. While tasked with transforming the new emperor into a responsible ruler, court life and politics prove troublesome as Shuurei faces the challenges of her new life. Set in a fictional country, Saiunkoku Monogatari centers on the idea of meaningful leadership, its adversities and the rewards that come alongside a prospering nation. This is definitely last season when reverse harem is included by me. Setting is ridiculous and convenient, as usual for this genre.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Digimon Savers Digimon Data Squad デジモンセイバーズ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/48) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy  Upon meeting for the first time, undefeated street fighter Daimon, Masaru and renegade Digimon Agumon become friends in the most natural way possible for the knuckleheaded duo—by fighting their hearts out. The self-proclaimed "ultimate team" are recruited by a secret government organization called the Digimon Data Squad, or DATS, who had witnessed an unbelievable human fighting blow for blow with a Digimon. Their primary objective is investigating mysterious problems caused by Digimon entering the real world, and the world is currently in the midst of a crisis with Digimon appearing at an unprecedented rate. Embarking on various missions with DATS, Daimon and Agumon become colleagues with adolescent genius Touma Norstein and his Digimon partner Gaoman, along with the kind-hearted Yoshino "Yoshi" Fujeda and her Digimon partner Lalamon. As the group continues to investigate the rapid increase of Digimon in their world, a darker truth begins to surface, and it is up to Daimon, Agumon, and their friends to get to the bottom of things. I want to unsee this first episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Kiba 牙-KIBA- [Madhouse] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Isekai Adventure, Fantasy  In a dystopian future, two friends dream of freedom... and gain more than they bargain for! Hothead Zed is on the run from the authorities, while his brainy pal Noah struggles with his own battered body. Both find a magical world that seems to offer escape and power undreamed of. Join Zed and his powerful, rebellious spirit Amir Gaul on their search for the ultimate power. It's a force that can save the world—or destroy life as we know it. This is the world of KIBA! Where you must harness the power within and fight with all you got! As I see it, the main problem here is 51 episode length. All people who like it say that show changes drastically for the last 15 episodes and becomes more serious and dramatic compared to boring core. I'd watch some recap or cut into 12 episode version, but in this state it's a too tedious and dualistic shounen to follow.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Aria the Natural  [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Iyashikei Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life Akari Mizunashi continues her training to become a Prima Undine (a professional tour guide gondolier) along with her friends Aika and Alice in the peaceful city of Neo Venezia. Despite the fact that these three girls are from competing companies, they are constantly together, learning more about how to become better tour guides and more about the mysteries of Neo Venezia. As the group continues to meet interesting and unforgettable people through their daily routines, they will also come closer to the secrets that make the enigmatic and ever beautiful city of Neo Venezia so warm and alive. Welcome back to Neo Venezia: the city where miracles can be created by hand. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. .hack//Roots  [Bee Train] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Video Game Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  After the termination of the incredibly popular virtual reality MMORPG "The World," a new version of the game—The World R:2—is brought online. On his first day in the game, newcomer Haseo thinks he has made some friends to quest with. However, as if mocking his sentiments, they kill his character just for fun. Luckily, he is saved by a mysterious, one-armed player named Ovan who offers to show him around The World. Alongside Ovan and his cleric friend Shino, Haseo enjoys a wonderful first year in the game. But this peaceful life is shattered when Shino's character is killed by a familiar figure notoriously known as Tri-Edge, whose victims have all fallen into comas in the real world. In a fit of rage, Haseo vows to find the elusive Tri-Edge and kill him. Taking place during Haseo's first year in The World, .hack//Roots explores the friendships Haseo built in the game before Tri-Edge ripped them away. I find anime about MMORPG difficult to fail, and because of that every case of failure is especially painful. First such case was with hack//Sign and now we have its sequel. Just as then it tediously follows some not really interesting story without focus on characters or world. And the result is that it's full of fillers and just not engaging overall. I still find it watchable, but just as Sign it's not memorable and is totally ok to skip. And it's one of those rare cases when I actually pay attention to music just because of how inappropriately it's used .   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Juu Ou Sei Jyu-Oh-Sei: Planet of the Beast King 獣王星 [Bones] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Shoujo Survival Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi After the murder of their parents, 11-year-old twin brothers Thor and Rai Klein are sent away from their home planet. They find themselves awakening on the terraformed planet of Chimaera, where carnivorous plants dominate and the few humans who live there are divided into four groups known as "Rings." Soon after, they meet a young man by the name of Zagi, and the twins learn that only the "Jyu Oh Sei"—the one who conquers these four Rings—is allowed to leave the planet. Driven by the desire to return home and discover the truth behind the death of his parents, Thor resolves to survive in the harsh, merciless environment of Chimaera. However, he quickly learns there is more than meets the eye in this strange ecosystem. As Thor is swept up in the politics that entangle the Rings, he uncovers more about his parents' murder, and ultimately, humanity's fate as a whole. I despise sandboxes, and this anime reminds one as it's battle royale between four artificially divided factions. To watch it just for action is not worth it, and all the other elements don't feel any good at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Inukami! いぬかみっ! [Seven Arcs] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi  Kawahira Keita is a descendant of a historic Inukami tamer family; however, because he lacked in its ability, he was forsaken by the family. One day, an Inukami named Youko came. She looked graceful, obedient, above all, beautiful. Soon he contracted with her, and she paid homage to him. However, she was a problematic Inukami that no one had been able to control. This is a slap stick comedy of an Inukami Tamer, Keita and an Inukami, Youko. Keita is a man of worldly passions, and he likes money and girls very much. On the other hand, Youko likes to destroy things and is very jealous. Saying it's bad is praising in this case. Ecchi hunting for spirits is lame as a concept, and realization is even worse than it sounds.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Aa! Megami-sama! Sorezore no Tsubasa Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy ああっ女神さまっ　それぞれの翼 [AIC] (Finished 1/22) Tags: Seinen Harem Comedy, Romance, Supernatural One year after goddess Belldandy emerged from Keiichi Morisato's mirror and promised to stay with him forever, a new threat to their happiness emerges, one that could end the contract between Belldandy and Keiichi. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Princess Princess プリンセス・プリンセス  [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shoujo Crossdressing, School Comedy, Drama Tooru Kouno's attractive appearance draws unexpected attention on his first day at an all-boys school. Having to transfer to a school without girls has been bad enough, but adding to his list of frustrations are boys staring at him all day long. However, he hopes that there may be girls around, since he ran into a lovely pink-haired girl on campus earlier that day. After being escorted to his dorm by his classmate, Yuujirou Shihoudani, he meets a student named Mikoto Yutaka, who looks eerily similar to the girl he saw previously. To his shock, he realizes Mikoto is the girl and confronts him about this revelation. Yuujirou divulges that he and Mikoto crossdress as part of their job: a school tradition in which attractive first years are chosen as idols called "Princesses" in order to boost the morale of the students—and because of his looks, Tooru has been chosen by the student council as their third Princess! How the hell is this shoujo if first male teacher hits on male transfer student, then everybody in boys school falls in love with him.... it's definitely boys love genre .   Overall Rating: 4/10   23. Kamisama Kazoku 神様家族 [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Samatarou is not just an average high-school boy, the truth is that he is the son of a god, his mother is a goddess and his sisters are candidates to become goddesses. They are living in the human world, because they want their boy to learn about the human customs and the habits of the creatures that they are protecting, so that in this way Samatarou will become a better god. Tenko is a angel assigned to look after Samatarou. She's born the same day, same year as Samatarou and have been close friends ever since. Life seems normal but things start to change with the appearance of a transfer student named Kumiko. Samatarou falls in love with her and from now on, things will be a lot more different for him. His decision of making her fall in love with him without using his powers will put him in trouble. Quite a typical romcom about a company of gods deciding to live among humans. Can't find anything to cling to here, to be honest.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Shinigami no Ballad. Momo, Girl God of Death しにがみのバラッド。 [Group TAC, Ginga Ya] (Finished 2/6) Tags: Psychological Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural  A girl wrapped in white, her name is Momo...in her hand lies a blunt yet shiny scythe. By her side is a winged black cat by the name of Daniel. Carrying the souls of humans, the girl's existence parallels to that of a "Death God" or "Shinigami". At the instant when this white Death God touches the hearts of humans, the world is filled with kindness and grief... Just random stories about shinigami, seriously? It lacks pretty much everything.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Tokkou Tokko TOKKÔ[特公] [AIC Spirits, Group TAC] (Finished 5/13) Tags: Seinen Detective Action, Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural "Shindou Ranmaru has just graduated from police academy and assigned to Tokko: Special Mobile Investigation Force. On the day of his graduation, he meets the half-naked girl he has been seeing in his dreams. Her name is Rokujo Sakura and she works for a secret group within Tokki, known as Tokko: Special Public Safety Task Force. Shindou ends up joining Tokko to avenge his parents' death, and solve the mysterious mass murder of residents in his hometown of Machida. Meanwhile, bottomless pits begin appearing around Japan, and mysterious creatures emerge from them. Could these events be linked to Machida Massacre?" Ghouls start to kill and possess people, special girl team opposes them, and main character happens to be nearby as investigator, and he just learns more and more about these creatures and murders. Action is good, but overall it fails to involve and get interesting. Watch it or don't, it does not matter as nothing of it will stay in memory for any significant amount of time. Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Makai Senki Disgaea Disgaea 魔界戦記ディスガイア [OLM] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Mythology Action, Comedy, Fantasy An angel arrives in Hell! A demon lord is awakened! There are penguins everywhere! What’s going on here? Angel assassin-in-training Flonne is on a quest to destroy the demon Overlord. Instead of accomplishing her mission, the ditzy Flonne manages to wake Laharl, the demon lord and heir to the throne, from his two year slumber. Now the pair, along with Laharl’s not-so-faithful vassal Etna and her army of explosive souls in penguin costumes, must restore order to the crumbling Netherworld. Based on the events of the game Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Makai Senki Disgaea follows Laharl’s journey to squash the demon rebellion, reclaim the throne, and destroy anyone who stands in his path. Or, you know, let them join him on his travels if they really want. Just remember: Laharl is a demon lord. There’s no way he’ll ever show kindness, compassion, or love... right? Disgaea games had too poor mechanics for me, and plot feels like a bad unfunny parody that has nothing to enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Simoun シムーン [Studio Deen] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Military Drama, Fantasy, Girls Love, Romance  In the peaceful theocracy of Simulicram, everyone is born female. At age 17, each maiden undergoes a special ceremony where she chooses her sex. However, only Pairs of maiden priestesses can synchronize with the ancient flying ships known as Simoun needed to defend Simulicram. These Pairs refrain from undergoing the ceremony as long as they wish to keep piloting their Simoun. Aer is recruited to be a Simoun pilot after a terrifying attack by an enemy nation decimates the squadron known as Chor Tempest. To earn her wings she needs to find her way into the heart of Neviril, Regina of Chor Tempest. But Neviril's heart still belongs to her previous Pair, lost in the battle when she attempted a forbidden Simoun maneuver. It is one of favorite works of my Taiwanese acquaintance, so after couple failed attempts to finish it in the past it's time to make that effort now. And I can understand the appeal as it's about pure priest maidens who start ship engine with a kiss and thus need to travel in pairs, plus to attack by writing figures in the sky they need as many as two ships and thus four girls. Girls are from different backgrounds and with very different personalities. Plus, there is not much in the story or action department, so majority of time is devoted to dialogues that help to flesh out images even better. Due to such non-cliche variety even I could find someone to root for. But it does not mean I find this anime interesting as story itself is lacking, and aesthetical enjoyment is not a solid ground for an 8-hour long show. A must have for girls love enthusiasts as all those constant private academy settings don't stand even close.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Joshikousei: Girl's High High School Girls 女子高生 GIRL'S HIGH [Arms] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Ecchi Eriko and her friends Yuma and Ayano are excited about entering high school. Their excitement leads to their breaking of the rules when they toured the school before the opening ceremony. They find out their preconceptions about the all female school may not be as true as they had first thought. Despite that, Eriko and her friends are joined by new friends. They aim to get through high school life together. Comedy is actually not bad, but situations are rather silly and typical from joshikousei life. And since I'm not gaining anything from it and not enjoying it, no sense to go on.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Kishin Houkou Demonbane (TV) 機神咆吼デモンベイン [View Works] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem, Mecha Action, Romance, Ecchi Kurou Daijuuji is a poor detective living in Arkham City. One day, he was requested by Ruri Hado of Hado Financial Group, to search for a magic book. While he initially refused, Ruri offered him a large sum of money upon completion of her request, in which bribed Kuro to accept. As Kurou searches for the book, he unexpectedly runs into Al, a pretty girl that is actually a powerful grimoire. They forge a contract with each other, bestowing Kuro with powerful magic. Soon afterwards, Al also activates Demonbane, a deus machina owned by the Hado Financial Group, to combat the mechanical menace from the Black Lodge. With this, the war between the Hado Financial Group and the Black Lodge begins.... Only played first game, but not the sequel as genre switched to action. Having watched anime now, I'm absolutely shocked of how low quality essenceless mess it is. 95% of it is action fights, often poorly 3D rendered. Nothing is ever explained or concluded properly. Just watch an endless spree of fights with laughable villains and try to make sense out of it , then wait for Deus Ex Machina in the end and be happy about it. It's worse than bad. It's tasteless. It managed to deteriorate even further from first horrible visual novel that at least had three quite nice action segments. Visual novel would  have dialogues between these fights and some character focus, but with this kind of "story" I'd not recommend anyone touching this substance either.   Overall Rating: 4/10   30. Zegapain ゼーガペイン [Sunrise] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Romance, Sci-Fi Average high school student Kyou Sogoru is an avid swimmer living in beautiful Maihama City. He spends his days hanging out with friends, swimming, and playing video games. However, his normal life turns upside down when a beautiful and mysterious girl named Shizuno Misaki approaches him with a strange request—jump into their school's pool together. This fateful leap transports Kyou into a war-torn world where humans pilot impressive humanoid robots known as Zegas to fight against malicious aliens known as Gards-Orm. To spearhead this endeavor, humans have formed Cerebrum, a rebel organization working to prevent the Gards-Orm from eradicating humankind. As Kyou participates in combat operations, meets his fellow Zega pilots, and witnesses countless deaths, he begins to question the true nature of this world as well as his own life. Sunrise mecha... of course I'm biased as no such previous attempt was worthy. And this time it's even more lazy than usual as it's partly school SOL and partially teleportation to another world to fight in mecha and teleporting back. Still, duality of worlds is not the worst idea they could have come up with, and second half can actually add something meaningful while first half is traditionally mostly waste of time since Sunrise stubbornly refuses to fit their shallow original stories in one season as they deserve. After three episodes can say that execution is rather poor.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan 錬金3級 まじかる?ぽか〜ん [Remic] (Finished 3/12) Tags: CGDCT, Gag Humor, Parody, Vampire Comedy, Ecchi Renkin San-kyuu Magical? Pokaan follows the daily lives of four young girls. There is just one catch: they are anything but normal. This group of friends—the energetic werewolf Liru, the joyful witch-in-training Uma, the motherly android Aiko, and the seductive vampire Pachira—are actually princesses from the netherworld who have traveled to the human world in search of a new home. Unfortunately, their naivety and severe lack of knowledge make living peacefully among earthlings much more difficult than they imagined. As they attempt to adapt to their brand new lifestyle, they cause all sorts of trouble, and end up attracting the unwanted attention of a woman by the name of Dr. K-Ko. The scientist believes that these new residents of Earth are up to no good and attempts to capture the girls to prove the existence of the supernatural and gain credibility with the scientific community. Every day brings a new adventure as the girls deal with the insanity of her antics and all that the human realm has to offer. Each episode consists of two shorter humorous stories. I don't like such episodic format, and humor here is not quite to my taste, so can't really praise it. But feel free to see for yourself, a lot of people seem to fit here just fine.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Kirarin☆Revolution Kirarin Revolution きらりん☆レボリューション [SynergySP, G&G Entertainment] (Finished 1/153) Tags: Shoujo Showbiz Comedy, Drama, Romance Kirari Tsukishima, a gluttonous 14-year-old beauty, is a girl who does not care about idols and the entertainment world because her mind is occupied by food. Her obsession with food only causes her to be clueless about love. One day, after saving a turtle that is stranded in a tree, Kirari meets with a handsome and gentle boy named Seiji, who gives her ticket to a SHIPS (a popular idol group) concert to show his gratitude for her saving his pet. Kirari then storms off to the concert and runs into another boy, who tears up her ticket and warns her to stay away from Seiji because she and Seiji live in different worlds. The outraged Kirari then sneaks into the concert, only to discover that Seiji and the boy who tore her ticket, named Hiroto, are actually members of SHIPS. Finally understanding the meaning of "different worlds" (Seiji is a popular idol while she is an average middle school student), Kirari refuses to give up. Filled with determination to be with Seiji, she declares that she will also become an idol. Feels like a typical romance shoujo without anything to give additional score for. But I'm not willing to investigate it beyond pilot episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Himawari! ひまわりっ! [Arms] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Martial Arts Adventure, Comedy  Himawari Hinata recently transfered to Shinobi Gakuen to train to become the best kunoichi she can be. She wanted to be a ninja ever since she was saved by one when she was little. On her first day, she meets Hayato Madenokoji (a new transfer teacher) who saves her life. Hayato does not possess any ninja skills or traits, he is teaching the ninjas about normal society to pay off his debt. However, Himawari notices that Hayato bares the same mark on his neck as the ninja who saved her when she was young. I have slight prejudice against ninja, so I'm not enjoying another anime about ninja at school, but with ninja affinity it should be a blast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Soul Link  [Picture Magic] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Military, Space Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi Aizawa Ryota was in the 3rd grade of the preparatory course of Central Military Academy. AD 2045, he went to a space station, Aries, for the training with his classmates including Nagase Saka and Nittak Kazuhiko. However, the station was attacked by a terrorist group, Hallarax. Now they must find a way back to earth. What a tedious undertaking. This is what happens when stage substitutes story. Ever 17 was at least created by a talented writer and was one of the first to present a stage instead of story. But Soul Link is not even talented. Of course I can name even worse representatives of such concept, but that does not make Soul Link any better than average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. The Third: Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo ザ・サード 蒼い瞳の少女 [Xebec] (Finished 10/24) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  In the distant future, because of an interplanetary war that had continued on for centuries, civilizations were ruined. Human beings have lost everything, and only 1/5th of the population survived. A strange breed of humans, ''The Third'' is said to have appeared just after the war. They possess a third eye, as their name suggests, that appear as oval-shaped red pupils called "space eyes'' over their conventional two eyes. Using them, they can control computer systems and so on, and as such, rule the world by their superior power over technology. In this world, there is a young woman named Honoka; she is a "jack-of-all-trades" sellsword, and she accepts any job except murder. One day, she happens to find and rescue a young man named Ikus in the desert. Entering his world, and accepting a job from him, the adventure begins for Honoka and Ikus. We've seen enough episodic anime about bounty hunters... well, this is another one. And there are no worthy characters to save it either. Overall, neither good, nor bad anime.   Overall Rating: 6/10   36. Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament The Good Witch Of The West 西の善き魔女 Astraea Testament [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance On Filiel's 15th birthday, she received her mother's necklace as a memento from her obstinate astronomer father. Her common and tedious life was turned into a life of conspiracies. With her new life, many adventures await. I can't say after single episode if it's reverse harem or not, but it totally feels like one with protagonist as princess and all kinds of bishounens hitting on her. This is as far as I'm willing to follow it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Ray The Animation [OLM] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Medical Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi If you have enough money, you can buy anything. So why wait for an organ you need to become available? Raised to be harvested for parts, Ray had already lost her eyes when renegade surgeon Black Jack rescued her. Now, ten years later, she has grown up to be a surgeon herself. And thanks to the unique artificial eyes she received as replacements, she has a reputation for performing incredible medical operations that no one else could even attempt. But unknown to any but a select few, her surgical endeavors are only part of a greater mission: to discover what happened to the other children she was raised with, and to find the men who stole the eyes she was born with and to bring them to justice. Come on, miraculous eyes is even worse than original Black Jack concept...   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Black Jack 21 ブラック・ジャック21 [Tezuka Productions] (Finished 1/17) Tags: Shounen Medical Action, Drama No direct-relation sequel to original Black Jack. Black Jack attempts to find out the conspiracy, of why he was involved in the bombfield accident that killed his mother, while he uncovers secrets of Organization and Project "Noir", which, his father and other famous doctors were involved in... It's still medical action, just with more detective mystery now involved... can't watch that either...   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Glass no Kantai: La Legende du Vent de l'Univers Glass Fleet ガラスの艦隊～La legende du vent de l'univers～ [Gonzo, Satelight] (Finished 4/24) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi  The People's Army led by Michel stands against Vetti's newly founded empire. Upon seeing how strong the Glass Battleship is, Michel tries to get Cleo, the captain of the Glass Battleship, to help People's Army overthrow Vetti's empire. And together they fight against Vetti's empire. The space battle aspect is laughable, even worse than stratagems of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. There's more focus on small battles while on foot, yet can't call it outstanding either. The way story is told is deliberately simplified, even that pales in comparison with deliberate complexity in the Legend of the Galactic Heroes.   Overall Rating: 6/10   40. IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix (2005) 2nd Season IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix Season 2  [Production I.G] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Mecha, Racing Action, Sci-Fi Team Satomi has just been deemed as the winners for the IG-2 lower league and now join the top IG-1 competition. But it's not going to be easy. Young pilots Takeshi, Liz, Amy, and River are going to have to be a team to be number 1, however one thing leads to another with these four. Most important of all, their opponents overwhelm Team Satomi in every aspect, including strategy and skill, as well as funding. One thing is for sure, this is not going to be an easy year for "Team Satomi." Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Spider Riders: Oracle no Yuusha-tachi Spider Riders スパイダーライダーズ ～オラクルの勇者たち～ [Bee Train] (Finished 3/26)   Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure Underneath the surface of the Earth lies the Inner World, a realm where a war rages on between intelligent spiders and the invading humanoid insects known as Insectors. However, the spiders are not alone, as "Spider Riders"—humans from the Outer World, known as Earthens in the Inner World, that are chosen by the Oracle—fight alongside them. Filled with wondrous tales of a mysterious pyramid and entrusted with his grandfather's journal, a young boy called Hunter Steele sets out on an exploration. There, his destined meeting with the Oracle occurs, and he is transported into the Inner World as a Spider Rider. Finding himself lost and confused in the middle of a forest, Hunter crosses paths with a giant spider named Shadow. Although reluctant, Shadow agrees to fight by his side. He then meets Corona—a skilled Spider Hunter and kind girl with a penchant for normal life. She shows him the ropes of being a Spider Rider, and educates him about the fate of the Inner World if the Insectors continue their tyrannical reign. Thus begins the story of Hunter Steele, a heedless young boy on a quest to save the Inner World. But his task of retrieving the four Oracle Keys holding the Oracle's true power will lead him to an ultimate clash against Mantid, leader of the Insectors. It has such primitive dialogues and characters that it must be made for kids only. Can't take it seriously at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Yume Tsukai 夢使い [Madhouse] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life  When people dream, they express their utmost desires and emotions within the confines of their mind; but when their strong emotions cross the border into reality, the dream can turn into an uncontrollable nightmare. Touko and Rinko are sisters known as "yume tsukai" (dream users), and their job is to take care of these nightmares. Using toys as weapons, the girls must both destroy the nightmare and return the dream to its rightful owner before the nightmare does any sort of serious damage. Have no fear, Touko and Rinko are here! Episodic stories about unusual ghosts. Lighthearted and moderately amusing, but it will wear off memory same easy as it comes and flows.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Love Get Chu  [Radix] (Finished 11/25) Tags: Showbiz Comedy, Romance  Five girls came to a training school to become voice actresses holding each thought in her mind. Momoko - she wanted to be a voice actress to meet her favorite voice actor. Rinka - she is an armature voice actress, but she didn't have special purpose to become voice actress. Yurika - she likes anime very much. Tsubasa - she was a girl in love, and acted only as a boy. Amane - she found a deadlock as a actress and tried to find another way. They managed to get over the difficulty to become voice actress although they couldn't perform as main characters yet. There is a love romance with a boy works for an anime company, and you can catch a glimpse of situations of anime industries. I was actually interested enough to go on, and the main problem here is length as there is not enough content for 25 episodes, and more and more ridiculous stories start to get inserted. It's actually masterpiece series with fillers and weird genre transformation, so feel free to try it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Sasami: Mahou Shoujo Club Sasami Magical Girls Club 砂沙美 -魔法少女クラブ- [AIC Spirits] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Fantasy In this world lives a group of people who call themselves "Majo" or "Magical Girls." They hide their powers so as to assimilate into society. They have been living together in harmony with humans for many years, as had their predecessors long before them. Sasami has had magical powers since her birth. However, at the age of three, she was told by her parents never to use her innate powers, and from then on, she kept them secret. On the first day of a new school term, newly transferred teacher Wajuu arrives, and from then on, Sasami's life begins to change tremendously. I see it as Sasami plus Tenchi. First episodes were slow and tedious, and I don't see the core here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Gun-dou Musashi Gun Samurai GUN道 MUSASHI [ACC Production] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Samurai Adventure, Fantasy The war over control of a unified Japan, the Sengoku Era, is over and the Toyotomi army has won. Toyotomi has allowed his rival, Tokugawa, to live but since that final battle an evil ayakashi named Yasha reveals to Tokugawa that history says that he should have won the war instead of Toyotomi. Tokugawa agrees to the evil ayakashi power Yasha offers him, and the only person who can stop Tokugawa from ruling Japan and killing Princess Kaguya, who is the link to this alternate present, is Musashi Miyamoto, a young and brash man who follows the way of "Gun-do", which mixes together swordfighting with gunplay. Partially translated. Dueling on guns used as melee weapons is weird. Story is not going anywhere. Fighting action comes up constantly with no reason. It feels like a weird parody, but not a really  a funny one.   Overall Rating: 5/10   46. Rockman.EXE Beast+ ロックマンエグゼビースト+（プラス） [Xebec] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Strategy Game Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Beast+ continues from where Beast left off, though it is marketed as a stand-alone series. Episodes are reduced to approximately ten minutes in length, airing in the thirty minute time-slot Oha Coliseum alongside the Saru Getchu anime. Beast+ consists of a string of arcs beginning with the appearance of the Professor and Zero (both from Mega Man Network Transmission). Sure, why even bother making an opening for this crap already.   Overall Rating: 4/10   47. Fushigiboshi no☆Futagohime Gyu! ふしぎ星の☆ふたご姫 [J.C.Staff, Hal Film Maker] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy Fine and Rein are sent to the Royal Wonder Academy on the Royal Wonder Planet in order to study to become better princesses. They plan to make many friends, but unfortunately, the competition and cold nature of the students and teachers make things impossible. The twins also become Universal Princesses when touching the legendary Soleil Bell, releasing two angels named Pyupyu and Kyukyu to help aid them. Unfortunately, an evil force manifested in a painting doesn't seem to be satisfied about the Universal Princesses... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   48. Onegai My Melody: Kurukuru Shuffle! おねがいマイメロディ くるくるシャッフル！  [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy  A continuation of Onegai My Melody. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   49. Yoshinaga-sanchi no Gargoyle Gargoyle of Yoshinaga House 吉永さん家のガーゴイル [Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy, Slice of Life When Yoshinaga Futaba wins the first prize in a lottery, the prize turns out to be a stone gargoyle. More surprising yet, the gargoyle turns out to be alive. A decent nonsense comedy... with non-moving gargoyle statue as protagonist... It's random, but not excessively so even I can tolerate it, but not finding it super interesting as it's not funny, it's more like episodic jokes during some finished story inside episode where gargoyle usually fights some baddie. Just not to my taste.   Overall Rating: 6/10   50. Iron Kid Eon Kid 아이언 키드 [Daewon Media] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi In a futuristic world, young Marty stumbles upon a bionic arm which endows him with superhuman powers and put him at the centre of a centuries-old struggle between good and evil. His teenager heart will now begin a long-way training together with two loyal friends: Buttons, his robo-puppy, and the brave Ally. Korean childish action, now ugly 3D edition.   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Kakutou Bijin Wulong: Rebirth 格闘美神 武龍[ウーロン] REBIRTH [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Seinen Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy Mao Lan continues growing into her path in life through what she learns while fighting. Her grandfather thinks that she has grown complacent and decides to train an adversary for her next Prime Mat appearance. Training with her friends and companions Mao Lan slowly advances through life. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   52. Bakegyamon 妖逆門 [Radix] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Shounen Isekai, Mythology, Strategy Game Action, Fantasy Sanshirou's chances of having an adventure are slim to none in his tiny island hometown, until the day a mysterious stranger invites him to play a game... Without warning, Sanshirou is taken to a backwards universe to play BakéGyamon—a game pitting monsters against monsters. Along the way he meets other players who have a particular reason for being there—to obtain the wish that is granted to the winner. But how far can Sanshirou get when the monsters he's been paired with are a bunch of little mud balls?! Childish imitation of Yu-Gi-Oh monster duels.   Overall Rating: 5/10   53. Himesama Goyoujin 姫様ご用心 [Bandai Visual] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Comedy Nomad Himeko is supposed to be a common high school student... until she happens to obtain a crown and she becomes a princess. Since then, Nana, the true princess, follows her around to take the crown back. In addition, Leslie and Caren, the thieves, appear to rob her of the crown, and her peaceful life turns into turmoil. Another random nonsense comedy, but again keeping inside some acceptable boundaries. I don't like humor here, but it's not the worst comedy to run at background.   Overall Rating: 6/10   54. Ring ni Kakero 1: Nichibei Kessen-hen Ring ni Kakero 1 Episode: The Pacific War リングにかけろ1 日米決戦編 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports Immediately after Ryuuji Takane won the Champion Carnival, the U.S. Junior Champion Black Shaft appeared, and challenged the best Japan has to offer, just before the World Tournament is about to happen. Now Ryuuji, Takeshi Kawai, Kazuki Shinatora, Ishimatsu Katori, and Superstar Jun Kenzaki have to prove to not only Black Shaft, but the world, that they are truly world-class boxers before the World Tournament starts. But Shaft is not recruiting boxers for his challenge, but instead gets a life-timer criminal from Death Row, the leader of the Great Angels, one of the toughest gangs in America, a mysterious woman, and the "Dark Emperor of the South". Also, Shaft negotiates with Don Juliano, the Italian Junior Champion, just in case... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   55. Himitsukessha Taka no Tsume Eagle Talon 秘密結社 鷹の爪 [DLE] (Finished 0/11) Tags: Parody, Super Power Comedy  Eagle Talon is a secret society based in Kojimachi, Tokyo. With plans for world domination, their attempts are continually foiled by Deluxe Fighter, the superhero who always manages to save the day. This comedy of their frivolous lives is definitely not to be missed! Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   56. Yoshimune 吉宗 [AIC Spirits, Ginga Ya, Gonzino] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Historical Comedy  Akubi-chan is a cute magical girl. She is good at magic, she can turn into any form by tapping a tambourine, and she can grant any dream or wishes. Usually, Akubi-chan is in a vase, but when Ruru-chan, the owner of the vase, yarns (akubi), Akubi-chan pops out of the vase. Ruru-chan is in the 1st grade in elementary school, but she is little precocious and loves secretly her classmate Itoshi-kun living next-door. Akubi-chan uses various magic to make them good friends, but she always fails. However, for her best friend Ruru-chan, Akubi-chan gets out of the vase and taps the tambaine to play Cupid. This one is actually more frivolous and random than I hoped it to be, so closer to average.   Overall Rating: 5/10   57. Flag FLAG（フラッグ）  [The Answer Studio] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Mecha, Military  In 20xx, a civil war broke out in a small country in Asia in spite of the dispatch of UN forces. But a picture taken by accident in the battlefield accelerates the peace process: a photograph of a flag, which became the symbol of peace. However, just before the peace agreement is finalized, the flag is stolen by an armed extremist group in order to obstruct the truce. To rescue the flag, the UN sends the Special Development Command (SDC, which is armed with the High Agility Versatile Weapon Carrier (HAVWC)), along with an embedded photojournalist to record their activities. That photojournalist is Saeko Shirasu—the young camerawoman who took the picture of the flag. I refuse to call it animation and thus I've invented a new term for it - abruptation. There are a lot of still images with camera a bit shaking to imitate movement, there are also a load of photos made of absolutely everything so that for few seconds there was only still image. Add the fact that 3D is also used occasionally. Finally, even in rare moments of actual animation it's done through tiny window of camera with a lot of UI on top of it. The plot is journalist recording everything she sees... that's it. And it's not that it's something really interesting. I can understand the appeal of aesthetics and occasionally crafty dialogues and some social confrontation context, but that's not nearly enough, and visually it's a pure pain to watch.   Overall Rating: 5/10   58. Hana no Kage Shadow of the Cherry Blossoms 花の翳 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Mythology Drama, Romance In ancient Japan, a princess and her lover run away from their pursuers. When it became apparent that they would be caught, they vowed to commit suicide rather than have the princess return to her former life. Both of them took their blades to end their lives but something went wrong. Now one of them seeks revenge for being abandoned. Short simple Heian story with some horror element, nothing to brag about.   Overall Rating: 5/10   59. Mitsu x Mitsu Drops Honey x Honey Drops 蜜×蜜ドロップス [Radix] (Finished 1/2) Tags: Shoujo School Drama, Romance Students at the Houjou academy are perfectly normal—except for those who take the Kuge course. This special course is reserved only for elite and rich students and their "honeys." Hagino Yuzuru enrolls in the course through Kai Renge, and she quickly regrets it. To become a honey, a student must get someone already in the Kuge course to sponsor her. Kai becomes Hagino's sponsor, getting her into the course and paying the price to cover it. But in return, Hagino must submit to him as her master, catering to his every whim. Hagino may have gotten herself into something she can't handle. But if she pulls out now, she gets expelled from the school. Can she make things work with Kai, or will she call it quits before he does something she'll regret? Naïve shoujo girl and weird cruel bishounens - everything is as I like it to such extent that won't even bother wasting time on second episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   60. Aachi wa Ssipak Aachi and Ssipak 아치와 씨팍 [Flatiron Film Company] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Comedy  After the world ran out of all traditional energy sources, only one remained—human excrement. To encourage citizens to produce as much waste as possible, the government implants a chip in the anus at birth, which provides citizens with "juicybars" every time it detects defecation. Juicybars are highly addictive narcotics that sometimes transform their users into mutant blue dwarfs with extreme constipation. These mutant addicts make up the "Diaper Gang," those who live underground and are focused on trying to obtain juicybars. Aachi and Ssipak are two small-time crooks who steal and sell juicybars to make it on the streets. When they meet a beautiful woman who has the anal chips of every Diaper Gang member implanted in her, producing dozens of juicybars with every dump, Aachi and Ssipak strike it rich. However, with both the government and the Diaper Gang on their tails, the two struggle to protect their newfound riches. My first impression - disgusting. It's basically collection of ultraviolence and SM "humor" with some dwelling into other fetish territories.   Overall Rating: 5/10   61. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 14: Densetsu wo Yobu Odore! Amigo! 映画 クレヨンしんちゃん　伝説を呼ぶ　踊れ！アミーゴ！ [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Slice of Life, Ecchi An action comedy film based on the "duplicating humans' invasion" setting derived from Jack Finney's Sci-Fi novel "The Body Snatchers", combining Sci-Fi horror-like story and dance (samba). An authority on biotechnology and a developer of "konjaclone" technology, Amigo Suzuki carries out "Transformation Plans for Samba World", in which he makes human clones using konjac as a material and makes them dance a samba. In Kasukabe city, people switch places with false ones who look just like the real persons. The Nohara family and the members of Kasukabe Defense Forces try to escape from Kasukabe with the help of a mystery beautiful girl Jacqueline Feeney (Jackie). There was already Shin-chan movie about impostors. This one is a more advanced version, plus there's this weird samba sidetracking, but it's not good enough.   Overall Rating: 6/10   62. Hanare Toride no Yonna Yonna in the Solitary Fortress はなれ砦のヨナ [CoMix Wave Films] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Yonna and Stan, brother and sister, live in isolation because of their special powers. There are enigmatic people who plot to use their power, in conflict with the king`s government, which is also planning to draw them onto their side. Intrigue surrounds Yonna, and now a new agent comes to see her. Character designs are unusual, and not in a good way. 3D is mostly ok. Whole movie is basically confrontation of two mages, so no good story either. Girl's personality is quite horrible. There aren't really good sides here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   63. Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru: Fantasy Railroad in the Stars 銀河鉄道の夜 -Fantasy Railroad in the Stars-  [ KAGAYA Studio] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery The Celestial Railroad is a fantastic journey of a boy, Giovanni, in a dreamscape created into a colorful full-dome CG animation picture with inspiring background music. Based on a story written in the early 20th century, KAGAYA, a digital fine artist, has breathed new life into the unique imaginary world using creativity and precise astronomical knowledge. The starry sky is depicted as the Celestial Field made up of a river, a field of silver grasses, flowers, birds, survey towers, railway signals and more. Across this amazing beautiful scenery, the Celestial Railroad runs along the Milky Way. Abstract random 3D is not the best way to tell a fairy tale story... 1985 version is still better.   Overall Rating: 5/10   64. Tachiguishi Retsuden 立喰師列伝 [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Gourmet  Immediately following the end of the World War II, Tokyo was trying to emerge from the rubble. In a corner of the black market stood a flimsy soba (buckwheat noodle) eatery. It was a delicate time just before the closing. A man appeared at the threshold. "One moongaze (raw egg). With soba." This was none other than the legendary Fast Food Grifter known as Moongaze Ginji. His relentless scam quietly initiates. The time changes. In the midst of the first anti Japan-US Security Treaty movement (1960), the streets rumored about Foxy Croquette O-Gin, a beautiful lady Fast Food Grifter, who disappeared all of a sudden. Wandering the alleys in the years of the economic miracle was Crying Inumaru, the loser. Then came Cold Badger Masa, whose scandalous death made people aware of the presence of Fast Food Grifters within the Japanese society. Beefbowl Ushigoro put an end to a major gyudon (beef and rice bowl) restaurant chain. And it is not possible not to mention Hamburger Tetsu, who shocked the entire fast food industry. Fast Food Grifters are the phantoms that rise and fall with the shifting diet-styles. They are the dissenting heroes who carved their names on the dark side of dietary culture with their glare. Now their legend revives, strong as ever... First of all, it's not animation as real faces and often also bodies are used. Next, it's mostly black and white.... And if you read the synopsis, it gets obvious that comedy is not the strong side here. And since I don't see any strong sides here at all, it does not stand out for anything good.   Overall Rating: 5/10   65. Yu Shi 雨石 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Romance - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  3. kivandopulus
    NHK ni Youkoso! is a genius title. Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society is still nice.   1. Zero no Tsukaima ゼロの使い魔 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Harem, Isekai, School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière is a self-absorbed mage in a world of wands, cloaks, and royalty. Although she studies at Tristain Academy, a prestigious school for magicians, she has a major problem: Louise is unable to cast magic properly, earning her the nickname of "Louise the Zero" from her classmates. When the first year students are required to perform a summoning ritual, Louise's summoning results in a catastrophic explosion! Everyone deems this to be yet another failure, but when the smoke clears, a boy named Saito Hiraga appears. Now Louise's familiar, Saito is treated as a slave, forced to clean her clothes and eat off the ground. But when an unfamiliar brand is found etched on Saito's hand from the summoning ritual, it is believed to be the mark of a powerful familiar named Gandalfr. Wild, adventurous, and explosive, Zero no Tsukaima follows Saito as he comes to terms with his new life and as Louise proves that there is more to her than her nickname suggests. Of course I watched it before. I'm grateful for popularization of tsundere archetype that I'm still not tired of, but I can't treat this story seriously. After first several episodes it starts to repeat more and more. For me it's only decent and can be skipped without regrets.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. NHK ni Youkoso! Welcome to the N.H.K. N・H・Kにようこそ！ [Gonzo] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Otaku Culture, Psychological Comedy, Drama, Romance Twenty-two-year-old college dropout Tatsuhiro Satou has been a hikikomori for almost four years now. In his isolation, he has come to believe in many obscure conspiracy theories, but there is one in particular which he holds unshakable faith in: the theory that the evil conspirator behind his shut-in NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) status is the Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai (NHK)—an evil and secret organization dedicated to fostering the spread of hikikomori culture. NHK ni Youkoso! is a psychological dramedy that follows Tatsuhiro as he strives to escape from the NHK's wicked machinations and the disease of self-wrought isolation, while struggling to even just leave his apartment and find a job. His unexpected encounter with the mysterious Misaki Nakahara might signal a reversal of fortune for Tatsuhiro, but with this meeting comes the inevitable cost of having to face his greatest fear—society. It was always one of my most loved anime on par with Ergo Proxy, but it has a lot of stuff suitable for rebellious youth and I was afraid that in older age I would not be able to appreciate it fully anymore. I happened to forget how many different concepts and themes this anime contains, but it sure is genius without any reservation.   Overall Rating: 10/10   3. Bokura ga Ita 僕等がいた [Artland] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shoujo Love Polygon Drama, Romance Going into her first year of high school, Nanami Takahashi is filled with the hope of making many new friends. After meeting the shy Yuri Yamamoto, she hears about a popular boy in their class: Yano Motoharu. Yuri cares little for Yano because of his past relationship with her older sister Nana, and at first, Nanami doesn't like his attitude either. However, Nanami soon begins to warm up to Yano and takes a liking to him. The two spend more of their time together and eventually decide to start dating. But their love is not without challenges; Yano has trouble opening up to Nanami, since his first girlfriend, Nana, died in a car accident the year before, and she had been with one of her ex-boyfriends at the time. Finding themselves living in the shadow of Yano's relationship with Nana, Nanami and Yano struggle to keep their relationship afloat amid misunderstandings and heartache with the certainty of their love for each other. Not bad romance shoujo, but level of complexity and seriousness does not live up to His and Her circumstances, and everything worse can't be treated highly.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Hachimitsu to Clover II Honey and Clover II ハチミツとクローバー II [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Josei Adult Cast, Love Polygon, Visual Arts Drama, Romance Back from his journey across Japan, Yuuta Takemoto reminisces about his college life so far. He has matured significantly since his second year and is motivated to move forward. Feeling more confident than ever before, he finally confesses to Hagumi Hanamoto, the girl he has been in love with since their first encounter. However, Hagumi has been confused by her attempts to understand the mysterious Shinobu Morita. Hiding behind a playful demeanor, Morita may be the most burdened by his own potential. Meanwhile, Takumi Mayama has become a full-fledged working adult and has landed Ayumi Yamada several pottery orders through his company in an act of friendship. The five youths continue to face individual hardships in academics, work, love, and friendship as they push each other toward the paths that they are destined to walk. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Kemonozume ケモノヅメ [Madhouse] (Finished 3/13) Tags:  Mythology Action, Horror, Romance, Supernatural Creatures known as Shokujinki have been secretly living alongside humans for hundreds of years. Though they may look like humans, Shokujinki are able to transform into uncontrollable beasts with gigantic claws and consume humans to survive. The equally secretive Kifuuken dojo specializes in killing Shokujinki by cutting off their arms, and is the only force preventing unchecked Shokujinki domination. Toshihiko Momota, the son of the leader of the Kifuuken, is instantly charmed by a mysterious woman named Yuka Kamitsuki. Their relationship is complicated, however, because unbeknownst to them both, Yuka is a Shokujinki and Toshihiko is sworn to kill her. Meanwhile, the Kifuuken is having a crisis of confidence as Toshihiko's brother Kazuma pushes against tradition and tries to modernize the Kifuuken. As emotions are strained and the secrets of both the past and present are revealed, who will live, and who will be eaten? Drawing is deliberately primitive and ugly. Story can be crafty at times, but nothing really great.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Le Chevalier D'Eon シュヴァリエ Le Chevalier D'Eon [Production I.G] (Finished 5/24) Tags: Historical Mystery, Supernatural In 18th century Paris, a coffin is found floating down the Seine River. It carries the corpse of noblewoman Lia de Beaumont: a spy of King Louis XV, and whose younger brother Charles d'Eon has just been knighted. When several disappearances occur throughout Paris, the young knight believes that they are somehow connected to his sister's death. Hoping to find her killers, d'Eon joins the secret police to investigate the incidents. Following the clues, they piece together that a conspiracy between members of the French and Russian nobility, spurred on by a cult, may be behind the disappearances. D'Eon concludes that Lia may have uncovered the truth while on a mission and was killed as a result. That night, the secret police are to arrest the Duke of Orléans on suspicion of being the mastermind. One of their own transforms into a demon called a Gargoyle and massacres the group. D'Eon attempts to rescue the sole survivor, only to find that he too has been transformed. During the ensuing battle, d'Eon is possessed by Lia's vengeful soul, who takes command of his body and slays the Gargoyle herself. In the aftermath, d'Eon must gather allies to discover the depth of this supernatural conspiracy. Mystery is not my genre, to put it mildly. Historical mystery does not make it much better. And it tries to be pseudo-complicated, so it wastes a lot of time on not too significant events, thus feeling boring most of the time.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Tonagura! となグラ！ [Daume] (Finished 3/13) Tags: School Comedy, Drama, Romance, Ecchi Kazuki has been awaiting 10 years for the day when her neighbours moved back to their old house. She has a crush on Yuuji, whom she considers as her first love but to whom she never managed to express her feelings for him before they moved out. Yuuji often comes over to play with Kazuki, Kazuki's older sister Hatsune and Yuuji's sister Marie when they were kids. Her ideal depiction of Yuuji was soon shattered when he turned out more than she had expected, him acting all ecchi during their reunion. With their parents off in South America, both families must learn to live with each other and rekindle the childhood feelings they shared together. Things get even more crazy as they attend the same school. Quite an ordinary ecchi comedy that has typical characters and gathers a collection of all kinds of tropes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z Powerpuff Girls Z 出ましたっ！パワパフガールズZ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Shoujo School, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life Based on the American cartoon, "The Powerpuff Girls." Professor Utonium and his son Ken are studying the strange Chemical X. When a mochi cake falls into the formula, it changes into Chemical Z. Ken fires a ray of Chemical Z at a glacier in Tokyo Bay, however that causes strange black and white lights to scatter. The black lights turn its victims into monsters, with emphasis on a black light hitting a zoo monkey and transforming him into Mojo Jojo. The white lights, however, aim at three normal girls, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru. This gives them the power to transform into superheroes, the Powerpuff Girls Z! This is clearly childish and should be marked properly as for kids.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Night Head Genesis NIGHT HEAD GENESIS (ナイト ヘッド ジェネシス)  [Bee Media] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Psychological Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  Following a 15-year long seclusion in a research facility, brothers Naoto and Naoya Kirihara finally escape after the psychic barrier separating them from the outside world collapses. Abandoned by their parents, who feared their supernatural powers, the siblings now strive for a normal life. However, the two are soon forced to use their talents to save lives as the "minus energy" begins to engulf the world and crimes involving psychic abilities gradually multiply. Learning to control their capabilities and using them for the sake of others will prove challenging, for Naoya is traumatized by his psychic abilities that allow him to read people's minds; while Naoto has hurt many close ones due to his unstable psychokinetic powers. With the help of the mysterious Shouko Futami, who can see into the future, the Kirihara brothers must find a way to foil the plans of an organization that seems to be linked to the harmful events related to gifted individuals. Espers. Mystery. Violence. Confusion. Boredom. Insanity. Horror. If you don't like these, best not start.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Innocent Venus イノセント・ヴィーナス [Brain's Base] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Mecha, Military Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 2010 AD, Hyper Hurricanes born concurrently all over the world caused severe damage. Five billion people lost their lives, decreasing the world's population to 3 billion. Existing economies and military were wiped out. Countries were frozen under solid ice, plains sank beneath seas, the world was changed dramatically. Human civilization enters a chaotic era. Poverty flourished outside of these economic zones and slums were widespread. The ruling class called themselves Logos and maintained their position by force of arms. They call the poor Revenus, who are exiled to live outside the special economic areas. Time has passed since then. Katsuragi Jo and Tsurasawa Jin, escape from Phantom, a force organized to watch Revenus and to suppress renegade elements of the Logos, taking with them a mysterious girl, Nobuto Sana. There are many who are interested in her, all with their own reasons. I actually liked characters, setting and plot. But main negative factor for me is frequent mecha battles that are done in 3D, also after intriguing beginning pace settles down and communication also becomes ordinary. The ending does not impress. Overall, it does not feel like a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Mamotte! Lollipop Save Me! Lollipop まもって！ロリポップ [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Adventure, Comedy, Romance Nina, thinking it was a lolly, swallows an object called "Crystal Pearl". But the candy turns out to be a test for the magicians. To retrieve the crystal, a special medicine has to be made so now Zero and Ichii, the magicians, have to protect her from others while waiting for the medicine to be completed. It's nonsense comedy with specific random humor, so it's hit or miss, but even in hit case it's far from great.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Binbou Shimai Monogatari 貧乏姉妹物語 [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Seinen Iyashikei Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life Without the presence of both their deceased mother and their debt-ridden father, sisters Kyou and Asu Yamada are forced to fend for themselves. Thankfully, they at least have a roof over their heads: a small room in an old apartment spacious enough to fit both of them. However, to make ends meet, the older sister Kyou strives to juggle various part-time jobs—all while making sure that she and her younger sister can continue studying. Despite these hardships, they are not alone. Seemingly blessed with good and kind people around them, Kyou and Asu's lives are far from miserable. Above all else, the two sisters share a precious bond that, no matter what pain, trials, or quarrels may come their way, will always remain unbreakable. There's a high competition among episodic SOL anime without distinctive plot, so only the best like Maruko-chan or Minami-ke remain in memory. I doubt I'll ever remember Binbou Shimai Monogatari, because it does not stand out even though it's good enough while it lasts. And constant fixation on money is rather irritating. It's deliberately tearjerker situation, but it's also artificially stretched to aggravate even more making most of it forced.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Chocotto Sister ちょこッとSister [Nomad] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Ecchi  Haruma Kawagoe is an only child. A long time ago, at Christmas time, his mother miscarried the child that was to have been his baby sister. That night, young Haruma knelt down and offered up an earnest prayer: "Please make my mother well again, and please give me a little sister." Years have passed, and Haruma has nearly forgotten his prayer. But Santa hasn't.... one Christmas, when Haruma is least expecting it, he gets an unusual present - his sister. Our old acquaintance setting of sudden cohabitation with a girl is back. And of course girl does not know about this world much. Needless to say, it loses to Chobits in every element.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Coyote Ragtime Show コヨーテ ラグタイムショー [ufotable] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Mister is a "coyote" or space faring outlaw who has been sitting in prison for a year for a traffic offense. Ten days from release, he breaks out with the help of his old partners Bishop and Katana. He then seeks out Franka who has been left in his care by her dead father and takes her on a journey to find her father's treasure. On their heels are the federal investigators Angelica and Chelsea as well as the android assassins of the Criminal Guild, Madame Marciano's Twelve Sisters. Legendary treasure, pursuits and space pirates. Outstanding characters and some twists are required for such concept to work, And Coyote Ragtime Show does not boast of innovation elements and  easily falls into some musical that stirps it of all leftover seriousness.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Muteki Kanban Musume Ramen Fighter Miki 無敵看板娘 [Telecom Animation Film] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Parody, Workplace Action, Comedy Miki Onimaru is a poster girl that works at her mother's Chinese ramen restaurant. She appears to be a normal girl, but she can become very violent if provoked. She picks a fight with her mother and accquaintances as a result on an almost daily basis, causing a series of troubling mishaps in their otherwise normal lives. Parody slapstick nonsense comedy. Not to my taste, but tastes differ.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Tsuyokiss つよきす [Trinet Entertainment, Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life Sunao Konoe starts her first day at a new school and is surprised to find that there is no drama club. So, she decides to make one of her own. But between a childhood friend showing up, the crazy student body, and the arrogant student council president blocking her at every turn, it seems that actually creating the club is going to be more difficult than she thought. Tsuyokiss has always been a light-hearted ecchi averageness. Can't stop getting surprised of how talentless and vulgar it can be at times.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Otogi Juushi Akazukin Fairy Musketeers おとぎ銃士 赤ずきん [Madhouse] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  Long, long ago, there existed a world of magic and science. God, afraid of man's potential, split the world in to the world of science, Elde, and the world of magic, Fandavale. One day in Fandavale, a terrible witch named Cendrillon (Cinderella) revives. Cendrillon plots to rule both worlds, and searches for the "key" which holds tremendous power. A young boy from Elde by the name of Sōta meets a mysterious girl from Fandavale, Akazukin, and her talking wolf companion, Val. Sōta learns that he is the key Cendrillon is searching for. Now it is up to Akazukin, Val, and the other Fairy Musketeers to protect Sōta from Cendrillon and her Nightmarelians who wish to obtain the power he mysteriously possesses. With chibi cute designs, kid protagonist and fairy-tale covering it's supposed to be for kids, but it manages to stay perfectly serious and all age. I still consider this shallow concept to be a waste of time for adults, but it's only the second child title after Blue Blink that I would actually recommend children to watch, and that means a lot already.      Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Project BLUE Chikyuu SOS Project Blue Earth SOS Project BLUE 地球SOS [A.C.G.T.] (Finished 2/6) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi  In this exhilarating series paying homage to classic 50s era science fiction, the disappearance of revolutionary G-Reaction engines is but the beginning of the ghastly end for mankind. While deranged alien forces prepare a fleet of flying saucers to the invasion of all invasions, teenage geniuses Penny Carter and Billy Kimura join forces with a clandestine secret alliance to save humanity from the extra-terrestrial helmet worms and their tentacles of doom! Avoiding alien attacks and dodging disintegration rays won't be easy, but these courageous kids will have help from above as Ace pilot James and his mentor Cpt. Clayton enter the fray to stave off a threat incomprehensible to mere mortals! Original dates back to some 1950, and this retrofuturism is everywhere. And it all is alien to me as I don't feel any affinity to such retro settings.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Naikaku Kenryoku Hanzai Kyousei Torishimarikan Zaizen Joutarou Government Crime Investigation Agent Zaizen Jotaro 内閣権力犯罪強制取締官・財前丈太郎 [Trans Arts] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Seinen Detective Action, Drama Based on Ken Kitashiba & Yasuhiro Watanabe's political intrigue detective manga. The close relationship between political and business circles doesn't die; politicians and government officers line their pockets taking advantage of their positions. Zaizen Jotaro is an investigator who is allowed to use extralegal methods to crack down these power abusing criminals. Detective investigation action is all that I needed to know, basically. It's not bad, but for a narrow niche as I don't feel anything watching  corrupted Japanese businessmen and politicians.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Hoshizora Kiseki 星空キセキ [CoMix Wave Films] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Romance, Sci-Fi  Kozue is a girl who loves astronomy, particularly the stars. One night, on an excursion to witness a meteorite, she meets Ginga, a boy who is able to help scientists discover more information about the stars through a mysterious ability of his. However, he is forced to stay in a protective suit in order to carry out his mission. Because of this, Kozue decides to convince Ginga to make his own decisions & to take off the suit using his own will. 25 minutes to tell an indistinct floaty story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Biohazard 4: Incubate バイオハザード4 Incubate [Capcom] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Detective, Military, Mythology Action, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense After the Playstation port of Resident Evil 4 hit the stores Capcom released a new 97 minute DVD some time later which intended to summarize the whole story of Resident Evil 4. It's played on English audio with Japanese subtitles. It also included a little book which explains the life on El Pueblo before and the arrival of Osmund Saddler. It also solved some plot holes like the whereabouts of the children. It contains many of the scenes original to Resident Evil 4. I only watched let's play of Resident Evil 4 and did not remember much from it, so anime was entertaining enough for me, yet not great, especially because it's game engine machinima.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Kikoushi Enma Demon Prince Enma 鬼公子　炎魔 [Brain's Base] (Finished 2/4) Tags: Seinen Mythology Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Enma is a character created by the genius manga artist Go Nagai. Now, the popular character makes his appearance in an alluring Japanese horror anime for adults. It's a hair-raising erotic suspense in which Enma takes on complicated and gruesome incidents caused by demons who lurk in the darkness. But humans have lit up the darkness of the night with neon lights and turned their world into one that never sleeps, so demons now lurk in the "darkness of the human heart." Unfulfilled hearts, suppressed hearts, despair,...such darkness of the heart is the place they lurk. Enma is the Demon Prince of the Underworld, a demon "Born of Fire." His mission is to take back or destroy demons that have escaped to the human world from the Underworld. Along with his partner, Princess Yukihime, "Born of Ice," and the monster, Kapaeru, Enma sets up "Enma's Detective Agency." Tonight, like any other night, they will roam the sleepless city. Horrific incidents that could not possibly be human acts occur one after another. The stench of evil lingers at the scene... Enma's fire rips through the darkness! Serious version of Enma, but the gist remains the same - hunting demons and monsters.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams the Story Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams 新 鬼武者 DAWN OF DREAMS THE STORY [Capcom] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts, Mythology, Samurai Action Set fifteen years after the fall of Oda Nobunaga. After the fall of this evil warlord, in the late sixteenth century, it appears as though evil times are ahead as his successor, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, has decided to call upon the Genma forces and once again place Japan under their demonic shadow. A strong warrior Soki who possesses the dark power of the Oni. Having learned about Hideyoshi's insidious scheme, he sets out on a journey to burn the Genma trees and defeat the Genma running rampant across the land. Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams the Story is a compilation of cut-scenes from the game by the same title. It has been released on DVD separately from the game. Never played the game, but this alternative Warring States period story does not fit movie shape as we get klutz girl protagonist, dozens of characters and a series of battles without much buildup. It becomes a tedious enterprise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Ged Senki Tales from Earthsea ゲド戦記 [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Calamities are plaguing the land of Earthsea and dragons have been seen fighting above the clouds—something which has never happened before. Sparrowhawk, a powerful Archmage, sets out to uncover the mystery behind these concerning events and meets Prince Arren along the way. Arren is the fugitive heir to the Kingdom of Enlad and a seemingly quiet and distressed lad. Wandering aimlessly in an attempt to escape the dark presence haunting him, he decides to tag along Sparrowhawk on his journey. However, their arrival in the seaside settlement of Hort Town is met with unexpected trouble—Lord Cob, a powerful evil wizard obsessed with eternal life, stands in their way. Forced to confront him, the pair joins forces with Tenar—an old friend of Sparrowhawk—and Therru, the ill-fated orphan girl she took in. But the enemy's cunning hobby of manipulating emotions may just prove to be catastrophic for the young prince. Set in a magical world, Ged Senki goes beyond the classical battle between the forces of good and evil, as it explores the inner battles of the heart. Plot turns out to be too simple and too stretched, and it all feels really boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Eien no Hou The Laws of Eternity 永遠の法 [Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Ryuta and his friends from the science club visit a museum exhibit on Thomas Edison and it's there they learn about one of his proposed inventions called the "spirit phone" which would enable communication with the deceased. Later that day, they bump into a shaman who claims she has a message from Edison. In an instant Ryuta is given the necessary knowledge he needs to construct the device and decides to go for it, so beginning a spiritual adventure. Ah, it's from the series of Happy Science Movie.  All of them are trash, at least the ones I've seen so far.   Overall Rating: 4/10   26. Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society 攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX Solid State Society [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Detective, Mecha, Military Award Winning, Mystery, Sci-Fi A.D. 2034. It has been two years since Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9. Togusa is now the new leader of the team, that has considerably increased its appointed personnel. The expanded new Section 9 confronts a rash of complicated incidents, and investigations reveal that an ultra-wizard hacker named the Puppeteer is behind the entire series of events. In the midst of all, Batou, who was stalking the case on a separate track, encounters Motoko. She goes away after saying, "Stay away from the Solid State Society." Batou is left with a doubt in his mind. Could Motoko be the Puppeteer? The series of intriguing incidents that Section 9 faces gradually link together almost artistically. Who is the Puppeteer? What will happen to Batou's relationship with Motoko? What is the full truth behind this carefully planned perfect crime? And what will the outcome be? Mysteries surround the Solid State Society... Solid State Society always felt rather plain to me compared to previous iterations, but it's a serious slow afterstory with familiar characters, so it's good, anyway .   Overall Rating: 8/10   27. Brave Story ブレイブ・ストーリー  [Gonzo] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Isekai Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural When 11-year-old Wataru's father leaves home and his mother is taken ill to the hospital, he decides to change his fate by traveling through the door shown to him by his friend Mitsuru. In a land of magic and monsters, Wataru must summon all his courage and embark on a journey with several comrades to meet the Goddess of Destiny and change this "mistaken fate." It feels more Ghibli than actual Ghibli movies. Protagonist is horrible and too young, the whole gathering of many gems concept does not add interest. Basically, it feels moderately childish and not enough isekai-like to matter. I'm not enjoying it, but for younger audience it should be a hit.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Lily to Kaeru to (Otouto) Lily, Frogs, and Little Brother. リリとカエルと(弟) [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural  Lily went to an amusement park using the frog as its symbol character with her parents. At the Frog Castle of the park, she happened to draw a sword. It was said that the Frog King would grant any wish if one beat the big snake with the sword. When Lily beat the snake, she went to the Frog Land and met the Frog King. The king said she would become a frog if she couldn't open the Gate of Hope until a child would hatch from the roe in front of her. Suddenly, a man in suits appeared. His name was Knodo, and he was supposed to become her little brother. Lily thought it strange, and she ran away from him. He chased her. Then, they fell over into the water head over heels. A short and actually cute and funny enough parody.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Taiyou no Mokushiroku: A Spirit of the Sun 太陽の黙示録 A Spirit of the Sun [Madhouse] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Drama, Sci-Fi On August 10 2002, the eruption of Mount Fuji, as well as a series of large-scale earthquakes tsunamis inflict tremendous damage to Japan, sending the country into a state of emergency. Furthermore, another massive earthquake hit Japan on August 15, splitting the country into two. While Japanese refugees were taken in by various countries, the Japanese government accepted aid from China and the United States, which eventually caused China to govern the North, and the USA to govern the South. 15 years later, the Japanese refugees residing in Taiwan and the Taiwanese citizens find themselves clashing with one another, due to job competition and the unimproving conditions of the Japanese refugees. Genichiro Ryu is a survivor of the catastrophic events that took place in Japan, but was raised in Taiwan by a couple who adopted him. He gets himself involved in the situation between the Taiwanese and the Japanese, hoping that the two parties will be able to coexist with one another. One movie is similar to Tokyo Magnitude 8, the other deals with taking Taiwanese civilians into refuge to uncover terrorist group despite all the arising troubles and incidents. It's realistic, but nor particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Jiok The Hell (Two Kinds of Life) 지옥 두개 의 삶 [Studio Dadashow] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Horror  Jae-young, an ordinary woman in her mid-20s is sentenced to death by an angel, and ascends to Heaven. Going to Heaven means nothing to her because she assumes Heaven is devoid of reason and humanity. But she accepts her fate and proceeds to bid farewell to her mother and friend. During her farewells, the desire for life starts to torture her. Too much ultraviolence and no sense in all that.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 時をかける少女 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School, Time Travel Award Winning, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi  Makoto Konno is in her last year of high school, but is having a hard time deciding what to do with her future. In between enduring the pressure of her teachers and killing time with her best friends, Makoto's life suddenly changes when she accidentally discovers that she is capable of literally leaping through time. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo follows Makoto as she plays around with her newfound power. However, she soon learns the hard way that every choice has a consequence, and time is a lot more complicated than it may seem. I actually used to think it was from Ghibli. By now we've seen so many time loops and travels that only outstanding titles become paragons and others fade away as lacking. And this is exactly such second case.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  4. kivandopulus
    Death Note as new title takes the upper hand over sequel Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage . But I can also name a number of minor masterpieces - Hataraki Man , Genshiken OVA , Paprika     1. Death Note デスノート  [Madhouse] (Finished 37/37) Tags: Shounen Detective, Psychological Supernatural, Suspense Brutal murders, petty thefts, and senseless violence pollute the human world. In contrast, the realm of death gods is a humdrum, unchanging gambling den. The ingenious 17-year-old Japanese student Light Yagami and sadistic god of death Ryuk share one belief: their worlds are rotten. For his own amusement, Ryuk drops his Death Note into the human world. Light stumbles upon it, deeming the first of its rules ridiculous: the human whose name is written in this note shall die. However, the temptation is too great, and Light experiments by writing a felon's name, which disturbingly enacts his first murder. Aware of the terrifying godlike power that has fallen into his hands, Light—under the alias Kira—follows his wicked sense of justice with the ultimate goal of cleansing the world of all evil-doers. The meticulous mastermind detective L is already on his trail, but as Light's brilliance rivals L's, the grand chase for Kira turns into an intense battle of wits that can only end when one of them is dead. Probably the most known anime, but it was always passable for me and definitely not a good entry point into anime in contrast to many such suggestions. Despite mind games being in focus, can't rate it a 9 since it's not the title that I'd want to ever rewatch as it's dark and unpleasant, and once plot is known, there's nothing to do here anymore.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ [Sunrise] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Mecha, Military, School, Super Power Action, Award Winning, Drama, Sci-Fi  In the year 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia is establishing itself as a dominant military nation, starting with the conquest of Japan. Renamed to Area 11 after its swift defeat, Japan has seen significant resistance against these tyrants in an attempt to regain independence. Lelouch Lamperouge, a Britannian student, unfortunately finds himself caught in a crossfire between the Britannian and the Area 11 rebel armed forces. He is able to escape, however, thanks to the timely appearance of a mysterious girl named C.C., who bestows upon him Geass, the "Power of Kings." Realizing the vast potential of his newfound "power of absolute obedience," Lelouch embarks upon a perilous journey as the masked vigilante known as Zero, leading a merciless onslaught against Britannia in order to get revenge once and for all. Another well known anime. First time I watched it, I actually liked it despite some really poor twists and unbelievable behavior. But afterwards only read bad stuff about it. Overall, I don't believe that Sunrise can pull out original scenarios well. They end up amateurish or disintegrated or straight up boring. I see Code Geass as an attempt to make action with twists that could not be called boring. But the other flaws remained intact. First season is basically Death Note copycat and thus bears some value. Second season only lingers on desire to just learn how it ends as it's straight bad. I've got a huge number of complaints against Code Geass from plot holes to treating females like furniture, but there must be all kind of analysis already on the matter. It's controversial Deus Ex Machina and not a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. D.Gray-man ディー・グレイマン [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 5/103) Tags: Shounen Mythology, Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy Losing a loved one is so painful that one may sometimes wish to be able to resurrect them—a weakness that the enigmatic Millennium Earl exploits. To make his mechanical weapons known as "Akuma," he uses the souls of the dead that are called back. Once a soul is placed in an Akuma, it is trapped forever, and the only way to save them is to exorcise them from their vessel using the Anti-Akuma weapon, "Innocence." After spending three years as the disciple of General Cross, Allen Walker is sent to the Black Order—an organization comprised of those willing to fight Akuma and the Millennium Earl—to become an official Exorcist. With an arm as his Innocence and a cursed eye that can see the suffering souls within an Akuma, it's up to Allen and his fellow Exorcists to stop the Millennium Earl's ultimate plot: one that can lead to the destruction of the world. I'm shocked with the low quality of this anime. No depth, no exposition, no composition of episodes - only same chewing gum of something actiony. And I've got a friend who was very enthusiastic about it and watched all seasons of D.Gray-man only to find that story is not finished and deteriorated greatly by the end. I'd personally call it an ordinary shounen.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Reborn! 家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! [Artland] (Finished 3/203) Tags: Shounen Organized Crime, Super Power Action, Comedy There is no putting it lightly—Tsunayoshi Sawada is just no good. He is clumsy, talentless, and desperately in love with the school idol Kyouko Sasagawa, a girl so completely out of his league. Dubbed "Loser Tsuna" by his classmates, he seems to be the very personification of failure in the guise of a middle-schooler. Tsuna's boring life takes an extraordinary twist when he encounters the mysterious Reborn, who happens to be a hitman... and shockingly, a baby! Sent from the strongest Mafia family in Italy, Reborn is assigned the daunting mission of preparing the dull middle schooler to succeed the ninth boss of the notorious Vongola family, who is on the brink of retirement. The dull boy has a grueling road ahead, but with the help of his new criminal affiliates and his peculiar home tutor, perhaps even Loser Tsuna can achieve greatness. Tried watching it in the past, of course, but first episodes never broke out of averageness, and I fail to understand why ordinary school comedy with superpowers should be stretched to 16 seasons. Of course with such length some arcs can be crafty and inventive, but this anime does not even provide worthy characters to go on.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage  [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Organized Crime Action Rokurou "Rock" Okajima has joined the Lagoon Company, a pirate mercenary group which operates out of Roanapur, Thailand. Despite his initial protests, this filthy slum of depraved souls and merciless criminals now serves as the former salaryman's home. Stranded, with nothing left of his past life but the clothes on his back and his inner morality, Rock is forced to perform jobs alongside the other members of the Lagoon crew. Berated for his lack of spine as he wades through the underbelly of society, he must decide whether to continue on amidst the gunfire and ruthlessness or risk everything he has in an attempt to be free. Whether he chooses the comfort of a familiar land or the freedom of being an outlaw, his decision will have lasting consequences on the crew who gave him a home. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 8/10   6. Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi KenIchi: The Mightiest Disciple 史上最強の弟子 ケンイチ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 4/50) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, School Action, Comedy Whenever he is not getting pummeled in the karate club after school, high schooler Kenichi Shirahama can be found with his head buried in one of the many self-help books he carries with him every day. One day, on the way to school, Kenichi accidentally frightens the new student in his class, leading her to throw him down onto the ground. After apologizing for her violent reflexes, she introduces herself as Miu Furinji and asks Kenichi to be her friend. Later that day, after karate club practice, Kenichi is given an ultimatum by one of the other club members: they will fight next week and the loser has to quit the club permanently. While lamenting his imminent defeat in the upcoming fight, Kenichi witnesses Miu fend off three thugs easily. Fed up with being perpetually bullied by those more powerful than him, he asks Miu for tips on how to become a better fighter. She directs Kenichi to her grandfather's dojo, Ryouzanpaku, where several skilled—albeit strange—masters of extreme martial arts have gathered to hone their abilities. Miu promises that Kenichi will become significantly stronger, but only if he manages to stay alive. With those ominous words looming in his mind and the appearance of a criminal martial arts gang known as "Ragnarok" threatening the safety of those around him, Kenichi takes the first step on his journey to become a world-class fighter and a defender of the defenseless. Male version of Fighting Beauty Wulong or something. It's stunningly bad in everything - humor, characters, story. It tries to be Hajime no Ippo of martial arts, but I'm actually ashamed of even putting those two titles alongside.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Kanon (2006) Kanon カノン (2006) [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Drama, Romance, Supernatural  As a young child, Aizawa Yuuichi had often visited his cousin in the city; however, something drastic happened to keep him away for seven long years. Now, Yuuichi returns, his memories of those days are simply gone. Settling into the wintry town, Yuuichi comes across several young girls, all of whom are connected to his past. As he befriends them and continues to interact with them, the long forgotten memories from his childhood begin to resurface... Freaking remake to help remake of the game sell better to help original game sell better to help anime of the original game sell better, because no amount of milking is enough for key industry milkman. It must the first case in anime history when remake is made not because original got technologically old, but ... just out of egoism as original is perfectly fine.   Overall Rating: 4/10   8. Ghost Hunt ゴーストハント [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural  While at school, Mai Taniyama and her friends like to exchange ghost stories. Apparently, there is an abandoned school building on their campus that is the center of many ghost stories. During the story, they are interrupted by a mysterious male figure. The person turns out to be Kazuya Shibuya, a 17-year-old who is president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company. He was called by the principal to investigate the stories surrounding the abandoned school building. The next day, on the way to school, Mai passes the school building in question. While examining a strange camera she spotted inside, she gets surprised by Kazuya's assistant. Unknowingly interfering with the investigation, Mai breaks the camera and Kazuya's assistant gets injured. Kazuya forcefully hires Mai in order to pay for the camera and replace his injured assistant. From that point on, Mai begins to learn about the paranormal world and the profession of ghost hunting. Ghost hunt is one of my most hated concepts. And this particular title is just weirdos playing in occult detectives.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Busou Renkin Buso Renkin 武装錬金 [Xebec] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen School Action, Fantasy, Supernatural The story begins when high school student Kazuki Muto is killed one night saving a mysterious girl from a monster, only to wake up in his school dorm, believing it to have been a dream; however, he soon finds out that dream wasn't a dream at all when a giant serpentine monster attacks him and his sister. Tokiko Tsumura, the girl he saved, explains that the monster is a homunculus. Kazuki had been attacked and killed by it when he was rescuing her; however, she, feeling responsible for him, revived him by placing a Kakugane medallion in his chest, serving as a replacement heart. The Kakugane, as Tokiko explains, is an alchemical device that, when activated, takes a certain form based on the Kakugane's user, forming a unique Buso Renkin. The Buso Renkin is the only thing that can destroy a homunculus monster. Using this, Kazuki creates his own Buso Renkin (the "Sunlight Heart," a huge lance). Along with Tokiko and her own Buso Renkin (the "Valkyrie Skirt," an execution scythe), Kazuki joins the fight against the homunculi and their master. Quite a typical action shounen, but at least with an ok protagonist. Story and humor are pretty bad, though. So while show's no good, it still manages to be better than majority of shounens.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori Hell Girl: Two Mirrors 地獄少女 二籠 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Psychological Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Ai Enma and her companions continue to offer their service of revenge against those who have wronged others, and the price is as steep as ever—for damning the offender to hell, the person exacting vengeance is sent to the abyss as well. As they cast soul after soul into the darkness, a new sinister force is watching them: a little girl named Kikuri. While Ai continues her duties, she meets a boy named Takuma Kurebayashi, known as the "Devil's Child" because of the horrific events that occur around him. Unfortunately, Takuma's reputation leads the townspeople to use him as a scapegoat for those who have been ferried off to hell. When things quickly spiral out of control, Ai must find a way to bring an end to this senseless violence, as it poses a threat to her very existence. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Kekkaishi 結界師 [Sunrise] (Finished 2/52) Tags: Shounen Mythology Action, Adventure, Supernatural  Yoshimura Sumimura comes from a long line of "Kekkaishi," individuals who have supernatural abilities and are able to destroy evil creatures called Ayakashi that venture into the human realm from time to time. The Ayakashi are demons that look to feast on the power emanating from the land of Karasumori, which also happens to be where Yoshimura's high school is located. Now, Yoshimura must fight to protect his beloved school and hometown. Although, if it were up to him, he would rather be baking cakes than fighting off the ugly characters that show up at night. Thankfully, Yoshimura isn't the only one helping to keep the baddies at bay. His childhood friend and neighbor, Tokine Yukimura, joins him in this righteous battle. Despite the fact that they are from rival clans, these two make a fantastic team. And teamwork is something vital to fighting the evil that is closing in, as the Ayakashi attack in waves, looking to claim the land as their own, and a shadowy organization looks on, ready to pounce when the time is right... Another ghost/demon hunting story, and this time can't find anything that could pull it out of averageness.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Black Blood Brothers ブラック・ブラッド・ブラザーズ [Group TAC] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Vampire Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural Black Bloods and Red Bloods, vampires and humans. Despite their differences, these two races once fought together in a crusade against a formidable foe. A decade later, the vampire war hero Jirou Mochizuki, known as the "Silver Blade," travels with his younger brother Kotarou to the Special Zone—a safe haven where vampires and humans live in harmony. However, their journey is suddenly faced with danger when a conflict erupts between vampire migrants and human forces from the Special Zone. With the rise of a developing conspiracy from an old enemy, Jirou will need the help of his new ally, Mimiko "Compromiser" Katsuragi, as well as the power of his ancient bloodline to protect what he treasures the most. It's not Hellsing, but action is decent, occasionally to the similar extent. Other elements are not as good, so it's only advisable for vampire action enthusiasts.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Negima!? Negima!? Magister Negi Magi ネギま!? [Shaft, GANSIS] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Harem, School Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi A remake of the Negima anime with its own original story. Wizard Negi Springfield may be a boy, but he has a man-sized job to do! Fresh from the Academy of Magic, Negi continues his training as an instructor at Mahora Academy in Japan. But before he can get his Masters in magic, the 31 schoolgirls of Class 3-A are gonna keep him up all night cramming for a final exam in will power. Temptation aside, Negi has more on his syllabus than flirting and spells. Darkness is closing in, and Negi is gonna need help from his lovely student bodies to drive the ghouls from their school. These girls want to prove that they're the best in class, and extra credit is available to the cuties that aren't afraid of after-hours phantom fighting! Not distinguishing it from Mahou Sensei Negima Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Bartender バーテンダー [Palm Studio] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Workplace Drama, Gourmet Hidden in the backstreets of the Ginza district is Eden Hall, a lone bar operated by Ryuu Sasakura, the prodigy bartender who is said to mix the most incredible cocktails anyone has ever tasted. However, not just anyone can find Eden Hall; rather, it is Eden Hall that must find you. Customers of varying backgrounds, each plagued with their own troubles, wander into this bar. Nevertheless, Ryuu always knows the ideal cocktail to console and guide each distraught soul. Tried it earlier as it is Seinen, but it's only episodic stories in the end.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Sumomomo Momomo: Chijou Saikyou no Yome すもももももも〜地上最強のヨメ〜 [Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Seinen Martial Arts Action, Comedy, Romance Koushi Inuzuka is a smart high school student who aims to become a public prosecutor. Unfortunately for our good guy, he was born into a martial arts family whose head (ie his father) only knows one language: violence. When Koushi was still a baby, his father made a pact with his biggest rival to marry Koushi to his opponent-turned-friend's daughter. The union of the two blood lines is supposed to bring forth Earth's strongest martial arts clan. Skip forward: Koushi is in high school, oblivious to the marriage arranged for him at his birth. Enter Momoko Kuzuryuu: sugar bomb, airhead, loli martial arts artist and Koushi's self-proclaimed bride (the strongest on Earth, no less). Her wish for sexual intercourse meets with Koushi's square refusal as he has absolutely no desire to get it on with someone who looks like she could be his little sister, not to mention that he doesn't have the foggiest idea who she actually is. Meanwhile, a war has broken out between the martial arts families. For Koushi, this means that numerous fighters are out to challenge/assassinate him. As if that weren't bad enough, our protagonist also has a fight phobia due to a traumatic incident that took place in his childhood. Now it's up to Momoko and her superhuman fighting skills to protect her "husband." Will the two sweethearts survive the trials and tribulations ahead of them? More importantly, will Momoko get her way receiving a baby from Koushi? An irritating ordinary comedy with ridiculous plot and a bit of action.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru Otoboku: Maidens are Falling for Me! 乙女は僕に恋してる [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shoujo Historical, Mythology Action, Fantasy, Supernatural Masahiro is the grandson of the great onmyouji, Abe no Seimei. However, he lost his sixth sense that enables him to see supernatural beings, which is very important for an onmyouji. Thus, he is left with no choice but to try and pick a different career. But one day, a strange mononoke appears, which he names Mokkun, who shows him his true potential powers after fighting a demon. With the assistance of Mokkun, his quest to become the greatest onmyouji begins. Otoboku is the first thing on mind when remembering cross-dressing, and it's usually love or hate relationship.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Shounen Onmyouji Shonen Onmyoji 少年陰陽師 [Studio Deen] (Finished 5/26) Tags: Shoujo Historical, Mythology Action, Fantasy, Supernatural Masahiro is the grandson of the great onmyouji, Abe no Seimei. However, he lost his sixth sense that enables him to see supernatural beings, which is very important for an onmyouji. Thus, he is left with no choice but to try and pick a different career. But one day, a strange mononoke appears, which he names Mokkun, who shows him his true potential powers after fighting a demon. With the assistance of Mokkun, his quest to become the greatest onmyouji begins. Heian hunting for demons is a boring concept for me on its own, and realization disappointed as primitive. And since protagonists possess mass destruction magic, only minibosses battles matter.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Oban Star-Racers オーバン・スターレーサーズ [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Mecha, Racing Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Eva's birthday has just passed, and she hasn't heard from her father. Despising the Boarding School she attends, she escapes using her Rocket Bike that she just completed. Taking on the alias "Molly," Eva sneaks with the Earth team to Alwas for the Great Race because the winner of the race gets any one wish granted. Little does the Earth Team know what danger awaits them... Space racing... wohoo...   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Red Garden レッド ガーデン [Gonzo] (Finished 6/22) Tags: Drama, Mystery  Strange suicides have been taking place in New York. One day, four girls from the same high school wake up in the morning feeling tired and dizzy and not being able to remember anything about the previous night. In school, they find out that one of their classmates has committed suicide. School is canceled for the rest of the day, but instead of going home, the girls are drawn to a park by butterflies only they can see. Suddenly a man and a woman approach the girls, telling them that they all died the previous night. It's basically life stories of four girls who died and now in zombie world finally have time to deal with their violence and psychological problems while slowly trying to perceive the world. And that means we're in for a lot of screams, violence and hysteria behavior. It's a fresh concept, but fresh does not mean good. I could not tolerate that absolutely irrational behavior and torture of screams for long.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Pumpkin Scissors パンプキン・シザーズ [Gonzo, AIC] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Shounen Military Action, Comedy, Drama  Three years ago, the long war between the Royal Empire and the Republic of Frost came to an end. With both nations a long way from recovery, a passionate young woman named Alice L. Malvin leads the Pumpkin Scissors, a unit of the imperial army specializing in war relief. During a mission to assist a village occupied by renegade soldiers, Alice meets Randal Oland, a scarred former soldier with a sordid past and kind heart. Encouraged by the efforts of the Pumpkin Scissors, he joins the team on their mission. During the assault, however, Randal enters a trance-like state prompted by a mysterious blue lantern. As a result, he acquires monstrous strength and decimates the enemy forces. Despite having witnessed Randal's disturbing transformation, Alice invites him to join her squandrant, confident that his gentle nature will prevail and make him a perfect fit for the Pumpkin Scissors. Sadly there's little for the story, only setting as first episodes are different kinds of rescue missions to save civilians at different places... I don't know what they were counting on with this kind of tedious concept.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na: Crescent Love Brighter Than the Dawning Blue 夜明け前より瑠璃色な -Crescent Love- [Daume] (Finished 12/12) Tags: School Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi The moon and the earth are linked by a single contact point, "Mitsuru ga Sakichau Ouren Rakuniushi" where Tatsuya lives under the supervision of the Sphere Kingdom (Moon Kingdom)'s Princess Feena Fam Earthlight who is coming to stay at his home. How is Eustia different from Shuffle and similar simplistic plots... It's main advantage is that it's short. Can't even call second serious part borderline decent, more so because the horrible first half shouts otherwise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Tokimeki Memorial: Only Love Tokimeki Memorial ときめきメモリアル Only Love [AIC ASTA] (Finished 2/25) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance Aoba Riku has just transferred to a new high school because of his father's job, and things aren't quite what he expected. The headmaster's secretary controls the school while espousing the virtues of academic freedom, the teachers are even stranger than normal teachers, and half the student body is walking around with animal ears on. On his very first day, Riku is unfortunate enough to find himself at the center of the student council's latest event, which has him running for his life. All this on top of the normal high school rigour of popularity contests, crushes, and homework makes it unsure whether Riku will be able to survive this new school. Two episodes were enough to wear me off completely with this kind of banality.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Happiness! はぴねす！ [Artland] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance Kamizaka Haruhi having been rescued when she was young by a mage, longed to be a mage herself, so she enrolled into a special school that allows regular and magic classes into two different sections. Together with her rival/best friend, Hiiragi Anri, they study magic together while she is searching for the boy that saved her years ago, to give him a Valentines' chocolate. It's goofing around at school with usage of magic included. It's not going anywhere, so can't call it outstanding.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Gift: Eternal Rainbow ギフト～ eternal rainbow [OLM] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Drama, Romance Amaumi Haruhiko is a high school student who attends Shimano Academy in a town called Narasakicho. Narasakicho contains an unknown rainbow which constantly overlooks the town and is related to granting a magical wish called "Gift." Gift is a once-in-a-lifetime present between two people. As a child, Haruhiko has been close with his childhood friend, Kirino, until he obtains a new non-blood sister by the name of Riko. Haruhiko develops a strong relationship with Riko until they sadly depart due to the fact Haruhiko's father could no longer support the two of them. After some times passes by, Riko finally returns to the town of Narasakicho, and along with Kirino, starts to attend Shimano Academy with Haruhiko. The series revolves around the relationship among these main protagonists and slowly reveals the story behind both Gift and the rainbow. There's enough effort applied to craft situations and show cuteness from different angles, so feels of higher quality than usual romcom. Still, it's mostly SOL, so is bound to be forgotten in an instant.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! Venus to Mamoru! 護くんに女神の祝福を！ [Zexcs] (Finished 3/24) Tags: School Comedy, Romance  "Beatrice". It is a mysterious power that responds to people’s will and realize all of them. Tokyo Beatrice University Attached High School is the only school that teaches Beatrice called "magic appears in the real world". Yoshimura Mamoru is a high school boy who was saved by Beatrice miraculously when he was a child. At the first day of the school, he meets a girl under the cherry trees on his way to the school. She orders him to go out with her. Her name is Takasu Ayako. She is in the second grade and one year older than him. She is a director of student committee of discipline. Also, she is a granddaughter of a big-name politician, very beautiful, and a genius Beatrician who can even shoot a satellite down. She is called Witch Beatrice or Death Angel in Beatrice, but in fact, she is a pure-hearted girl. Light romantic school love triangle comedy with some flavor of superpowers, maybe with slightly more cringe than usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Hataraki Man 働きマン [Gallop] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Workplace Comedy, Drama, Romance Hiroko Matsukata is a woman who works for a magazine company. She puts all she has into her work, and is known as a strong, straight-forward working girl, who can at will turn herself into Hataraki man (working man) mode. Despite Hiroko's success at work, her life lacks romance. Even though a hard worker, she'd leave early anytime to go on a date. Too bad her boyfriend is an even bigger workaholic than Hiroko. Great opening and ending, serious and adult SOL with characters that feel alive and even sometimes familiar. Can't say it rings the right strings like some doramas do, like it's hard to understand this constant urge to pursue recreative activities, but other countries probably don't have as many overwork hours. It's far from perfect, but it's a good start for serious SOL titles.   Overall Rating: 7/10   28. Asatte no Houkou. Living for the Day After Tomorrow あさっての方向。 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Drama, Supernatural Sentai Filmworks About to enter junior high school, Karada Iokawa is a cheerful and reliable girl, who hates being treated as a child more than anything. After her parents' deaths, her older brother, Hiro, comes back from studying abroad to take care of her. His ex-girlfriend Shouko Nogami, a composed yet sometimes childish and stubborn young woman, follows him to Japan in order to find out why he left her. Between the two girls, the atmosphere is tense, which eventually leads to Shouko calling Karada childish. Later, Karada stands before a shrine praying to grow up. Little does she know that the shrine wishing stone would grant her wish. As Karada grows older, at the same time, Shouko, who happens to be nearby, finds herself a child once again. With their ages now reversed, Shouko and Karada must come to terms with one another and ultimately themselves. Love triangle in the spirit of Memories Off as kid girl who wants to love grows up and protagonist's girlfriend becomes a kid girl. I'm not fond of such stories as everyone is constantly sad and frequently crying pitying themselves, but there should be enthusiasts of such settings, because quality is quite good.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Soukou no Strain Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry 奏光のストレイン [Studio Fantasia] (Finished 7/13) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Drama, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Eleven-year-old Sara Werec's elder brother, Ralph, was sent to the frontlines of an interstellar war 130 light years away, and Sara vowed to reunite with him one day as a comrade. Five years later, Sara is a student at Grapera Space Armed Soldier Academy, training to become a Reasoner, a pilot of an advanced weapons system called a "Strain." When the academy is suddenly attacked by enemy forces, Sara enters battle against a Strain that quickly overpowers her. After incapacitating her, the pilot reveals himself to be her Ralph. Killing all the other students and destroying the school, he disappears, leaving Sara to question everything she has ever known. Soukou no Strain is the story of Sara as she reenters training under a new name, now determined to confront her brother and make sense of her brother's actions. This anime uses 3D rendered mecha fights and absolutely does not know where it's going. In the result it's slow boring trainings with main heroine history, plus occasional fights that don't result in anything. The whole intrigue is about her brother who switched sides and now fights on the enemy side, but producers are definitely saving this only plot development for the very end. So basically it's mostly SOL at military space station with a bit of comedy and romance, and that's not enough even though characters aren't repulsive.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. 009-1 ゼロゼロナインワン [Ishimori Entertainment] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Mylene Hoffman, a beautiful cyborg spy with the codename "009-1" lives in an alternative world where the cold war never ended, continuously on-going for 140 years. The world is split into two factions, the West and the East block. A masquerade of peace between the two is slowly dissipated as the conflict occurs. Through politics, the two factions battle over supremacy over technology to threats of a nuclear attack. Mylene Hoffman, teaming up with three other agent, gets surrounded by deception, chaos, and rivalry as she carries out missions assigned by her superiors. When I watched it a decade ago I actually liked it as a minor masterpiece, so rewatching it with anxiety now. And nowadays I can't appreciate that retrofuturism and those character designs and those relatively similar episodes. Still good, but not enough.    Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Tenpou Ibun: Ayakashi Ayashi Ghost Slayers Ayashi 天保異聞 妖奇士 [Bones] (Finished 5/25) Tags: Historical, Mythology Supernatural In the year of Tenpo 14, Yoi, monsters from another world attack Edo. Those who fight against them are members of Bansha Aratemesho. In public, Bansha Aratemsho is known as an organization to study foreign books. In fact, they are a organization dedicated to destroying the Yoi. These warriors are called Ayakashi. They gather information of odd events in the country, and are sent to destroy Yoi who appear. They are generally very strange people. For example, a guy who has lost his memory, a girl who dresses like a man. They have special powers with which to beat the Yoi. It's slow, monotonous, in same greyish palette and even battles are the same slow. Add there same looking characters and concept of just hunting demons during Edo period, and it becomes less and less lucrative show to watch.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Pucca (TV) 짜장소녀 뿌까 [VOOZ Character System] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Parody Comedy, Romance  Pucca is the young daughter of a Chinese noodle house owner and she is hopelessly in love with the ninja Garu. He tries desperately to avoid Pucca's advances and usually does not return her affection. This results in many comical situations as Pucca goes to great lengths just to steal a kiss from Garu. Expect to see lots of "funny love" antics involving everything from noodles to deadly ninjas. What I see is that episodes are only 8 minutes long, and thus I'd block it if I knew that beforehand. Primitive flash drawing and nonsense parody plots don't add credibility. It's childish, too, but not all the time.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Kujibiki♥Unbalance くじびき♥アンバランス [Ajia-do] (Finished 12/12) Tags: School Comedy, Romance Once a year prestigious Rikkyouin High School has a lottery to determine the next year's Student Council membership. On their first day of school Chihiro Enomoto wins the presidency while his childhood friend Tokino Akiyama picks the vice-president's ticket. There is one catch though, they must first pass a one year apprenticeship under the current Student Council and any failure to perform the tasks assigned, however minor, will result in immediate expulsion from the school. After first great episodes actually had to rewatch OVA to check differences and see if I evaluated it properly. And, actually, OVA is much worse as it did not have any concept apart of just competitions by groups in all three episodes. And what's even worse, different episodes of OVA had varying character personalities. Basically, it was too chaotic and random with many challenges inside each episode. This time there is a concept of tasks from student council in each episode, so can concentrate around one topic, plus a much bigger emphasis on characters individuality. It's done with love, but I don't get anything from it - no plot, no humor, no really likable characters. And unless you like the characters, their development won't have much meaning either. All those random situations lack good humor, sadly. Problem here is that this kind of concept is chosen for writer's convenience sake, but watchers feel disoriented while they should be put in the center.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Ryuusei no Rockman Megaman Star Force 流星のロックマン [Xebec] (Finished 1/55) Tags: Strategy Game Action, Sci-Fi In the year 220X, the world has advanced toward radio-wave technology, and the world is connected through the Wave Road. Meet Subaru Hoshikawa, a fifth-grade student who lost his father in a space accident. Subaru meets an extraterrestrial radio-wave being named War-Rock, descending from a distant FM planet. War-Rock claims to know about Subaru's father, but many alien beings are after War-Rock. The two work together and merge into Rockman, a radio-wave human capable of traversing the Wave Road and battling the radio-wave viruses and FMs that threaten the Earth. Not first Rockman anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Souten no Ken Fist of the Blue Sky 蒼天の拳 [APPP] (Finished 1/22) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts Action A mysterious man known as "the King of Death" roams the streets of pre-war Shanghai in this action-packed prequel to Fist of the North Star. Shanghai in the 1930s is a dangerous place. Foreign governments and Chinese factions have carved the city into different quarters, each with its own laws and government, and all rife with corruption. As the major powers vie for political control, the streets are left to local gangs. Life is cheap, and death is always near. In days past, one man walked these mean streets battling the forces of evil. He was known only as Yan Wang, "the King of Death." Few knew who he really was, but many knew that he was a master of Hokuto Shinken - Fist of the North Star - a lethal martial art. He disappeared years ago after dispatching the city's worst gangsters, and is now rumored to be in Japan. Various people have come to Japan in search of him, but who will find him first? Thanks to a friend who watches a lot of dubious shows in full I happen to understand chronology of the fist of the northern star with derivatives. Rebooting franchise in China mythology while maintaining links to original franchise is a good move, but it only matters for those who still have not watched enough of the manliest men ever.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Tokyo Tribe 2 [Madhouse] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Action, Drama  This is the other side of Tokyo, a Tokyo of a different color. There, various tribes are living. The SARU from Japan's Musashino, WU-RONZE of Bukuro, and HANDS of Shindyuku... Young men living in the city...the public of modern times builds a home out of corruption, these young men of the sordid side of life, a side called "reality," are depicted here! Acid mix of disgust, cringe and ugliness. Guess only for those who can appreciate GTA3 aesthetics.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Lovedol: Lovely Idol らぶドル～Lovely Idol～ [AIC ASTA, TNK] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Idols (Female), Music  Lovedol, or Lovely Idol, is a girl group consisting of two generations of idols. The 3rd Generation is about to make its debut, but to their surprise, they have been delayed! The vague reason is only that "they lack something." The manager, and the 3rd Gen. girls too, must find the answer. A rather typical idol show, to be honest, but possibly the best one so far. It's good indeed, but the problem is that it does not make it interesting for me, guess I need some special traits like in Wake Up, Girls or Carol & Tuesday at least.   Overall Rating: 6/10   38. Giniro no Olynsis: Tokito 銀色のオリンシス TOKITO [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Mecha Adventure, Drama, Romance  AD 3567. Mankind has lost its once great civilization, now living in the ruins of the aftermath. But even though their lives are threatened by Gardeners — mysterious unmanned mobile weapons (of different ranks) sent from the Moon — brave teenagers have to become Gardener hunters to earn their living. And although human civilization at large lies in ruins due to high-tech maintenance free technology, some parts of the remaining cities still work in limited ways, supporting the humans living there. One fateful day Tokito Aizawa meets Tea, awakening a power older and beyond that of the Gardeners, and inadvertently opening up the door to a possibly much brighter future for the remainder of mankind... Mecha, nonsense plot, time travel, bland characters... this is what happens when shows try to imitate already hugely flawed Gundam.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Super Robot Taisen OG: Divine Wars Super Robot Wars The Original Generation: The Divine Wars スーパーロボット大戦OG -ディバイン・ウォーズ- [OLM] (Finished 2/25) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi It is two hundred years after the beginning of the Space Era, when human civilization on Earth began expanding into space. However, by the start of the 21st century, two meteors struck the planet, sending humanity into chaos. By the year 179 of the Space Era, secret technology, dubbed Extra-Over Technology, or EOT, was discovered by the Earth Federal Government within a third meteor that hit Earth in the Marquesas Islands of the South Pacific. Dr. Bian Zoldark, head of the EOTI Institute (Extra-Over Technological Investigative Institute), had evidence the creators of the EOT were heading to Earth, in order to reclaim it...or worse, invade the planet. In order to defend humanity from extraterrestrial threats, the government begins to research and develop humanoid mecha called Personal Troopers. The beginning is typical Gundam with a brat occasionally finding a vacant giant mecha ready to launch. 3D mecha battles are horrible. Coming from a game, it can have a more thorough plot than usual, but two episodes is is as far as I'm going to investigate this primitiveness.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Galaxy Angel Rune ギャラクシーエンジェる～ん [Satelight] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  Apricot Sakuraba and 4 new girls were now assigned as the new Galaxy Angels with the same mission: to search for the Lost Technology and keep peace to Planet Transbaal. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. Sasami: Mahou Shoujo Club 2 Sasami Magical Girls Club 砂沙美☆魔法少女クラブ シーズン2 [AIC Spirits] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School  In this world, there live a group of people who call themselves "Majo" or "Magical Girls". They hide their powers so as to assimilate into the environment. They have been living together in harmony with the humans for many years to come, and their predecessors continue to do so. Sasami was enthroned with magical powers since her birth. However, at the age of three, she was told by her parents never to use her innate powers and from then on, had kept it a secret from everyone. On the day of a new school term, a new transfer teacher by the name of Wajuu arrives and from then on, Sasami's life begins to change tremendously. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   42. Ginga Tetsudou Monogatari: Eien e no Bunkiten The Galaxy Railways II 銀河鉄道物語 ～永遠への分岐点～ [Planet] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Second season. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Jinzou Konchuu Kabutoborg VxV 人造昆虫カブトボーグ V×V [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Strategy Game Action, Comedy, Fantasy BorgBattles between KabutoBorgs have become popular enough to hold world tournaments. The main character Ryuusei is an enthusiast of these battles. Along with his friends Katsuji and Ken, he continues fighting against new enemies day after day. Not translated. Kids stuff.   Overall Rating: 4/10   44. Silk Road Shounen Yuuto シルクロード少年 ユート [OLM] (Finished 0/26) Tags: Historical Adventure, Fantasy When a boy Yuto visits Qinghai in China, he is involved in the battle between time-travelers, and he is sent to the Silk Road in the past. They are looking for a mysterious treasure, the statue of Yuki Daruma Taishi, which is said to make miracles. Seeing historical events and encountering historical persons, such as Yang Guifei and Xuanzang, he will learn many thinks. Whether will he be able to go back to today? Not translated. 3D. Nonsense concept. Chinese aesthetics. Ugly. Not even going to try it as it has zero chances.   Overall Rating: 0/10   45. RGB Adventure RGBアドベンチャ [ACC Production] (Finished 0/6) Tags: Adventure  The light – it is the resource of life. There are mysterious monsters and robots that aim at the powers of the light, i.e. R(Red), G(Green), and B(Blue). However, no one notices that… except three children. Ryu - he is a stupid, simple, and mischievous boy who he says without hesitation that his dream is to the conqueror of the world. Guccho - he is a nerd of mechanics, glutton, and chicken-hearted. Becky - she is very cute, but she has a very twisted personality. They have encouraging friends, such as Rosso, Gibson, Bo, etc. They are various aliens that usually change their figures into animals. By exchanges between aliens who have different principles, purposes, tastes, and hobbies, they will learn importance of communications. Not translated. 3D. Nonsense concept. Kids stuff. Ugly. Not even going to try it as it has zero chances.   Overall Rating: 0/10   46. Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto 幕末機関説 いろはにほへと [Sunrise] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Historical, Samurai Action, Drama In the final years of the Bakumatsu, wandering mercenary Yojiro Akizuki travels the length and breadth of Japan. And while he employs his sword in the usual fashion, he also uses it to help him locate supernatural items which he pursues with single-minded determination, often with bloody results. In the course of his quest, he crosses paths with a traveling theater group whose members have their own dark agenda. Is it a chance meeting or the result of some, as yet, undiscovered conspiracy? Sunrise show is of high quality as always, but original script raises suspicions as usual. Pseudo-historical revenge fighting action fantasy about collecting artifacts with kabuki flavor on the side. I'd call it something like that, at least. Overall, it's a mess of historical references, fighting action and theater stage which is rendered useless by overwhelming supernatural powers usage. As usual for Sunrise original concepts, it lacks integrity and emphasis on personalities which results in surface-scratching actiony something.   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Catblue: Dynamite Catblue Dynamite げんしけん OVA [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Fantasy  It is the end of 70s. Blue – a woman with cat ears and tail – has solved many incidents and troubles with her special ability to see a ghost and her technique to handle three guns at one using her tail. One day, two couriers, Bill and Robert are assaulted by mysterious masked men. They don't know why they were assaulted. Blue asks a dead masked man their purpose. It is incredible. What they are aiming at is the cassette tape of Sinatra that Bill owns. Over the cassette tape, a long day begins... 3D usage is more or less fine looking. Show feels like imitation of Quentin Tarantino or maybe Guy Ritchie movies, but lacks a good concept or talent. It's fine if you look at it this way, but nothing great, anyway.   Overall Rating: 6/10   48. Genshiken OVA げんしけん OVA [Ajia-do] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Parody Comedy, Slice of Life It's the start of a new year for the Genshiken crew, and that means recruiting new members. Always a dreaded task, The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture manages to get Chika Ogiue pushed onto them from the Manga Club. With her introduction of "I'm Ogiue and I hate otaku," this year certainly will be anything but boring. Derivatives get one score less than original, but I rewatched it with pleasure for the third time overall now.   Overall Rating: 7/10   49. Freedom [Sunrise] (Finished 7/7) Tags: Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi 2041, Earth. After being pulled into the planet's atmosphere, the fall of the Freeport Space Station has led to the "Great Cataclysm"—an event that devastated the Earth's environment. Left as a polluted wasteland, survivors go to war with their fellows to guarantee themselves resources; in the end, these scrimmages have erased the whole existence of humanity. Coincidentally, life still exists on a moon base. Although it is supposedly meant as an immigration outpost for the mission to explore Mars, it is soon turned into a city, both regulating and allowing its citizens to flourish. The lunar base, officially named "The City of Eden," holds the hope of fully colonizing the moon. Takeru, one of many citizens of Eden in the year 2267, participates in "Tube Races" between gangs and groups using hovercraft-like vehicles. Due to causing an accident in one of his races, Takeru is sentenced to complete volunteer work outside the city. While clearing his punishment, Takeru stumbles upon remains that may unravel the truth about Earth and Eden's genesis. Sunrise original that is clearly fantasy on Akira on so many levels. Development is slow and plot is simple. Very soon 3D rendered characters start to be used in many scenes. Venus Wars that started in a similar way was a lot more exciting than this one. A mess with no integrity, as usual.   Overall Rating: 6/10   50. Baldr Force Exe Resolution バルドフォース　エグゼ　レソリューション [Satelight] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Any network runs all over the world, and the development of the information network reaches its acme. In this age, there are two developed worlds; "the real world" and "wired", or the virtual network world. Soma Toru belongs to a hacking group, Steppen Wolf, which runs around the network world freely. They attack the database of the UN forces as their last work. During this attack, he loses Nonomura Yuya, his friend as well as the team leader. Toru is arrested by the army. In exchange for letting him free, he has to work for an anti-hacker organization, the first squad of the UN Security Force Information Administration Bureau. Working for them, he is looking for the person who killed his friend, while the other members also have their own reason to fight. The three-way fights of the terrorist group, the security enterprise, and the army, continue every day. The various events occurred during the fight seem to be independent of each other at the first glance, but they're converging on one event as if they were attracted by something. Based on the game by GIGA. Never liked its gameplay, so now is a good opportunity to learn the story. So, story is better than expected from GIGA, but it's all over the place and is not of masterpiece scale. It's jumpy and moves in different directions, and it lacks impact. Game should feel better with clear distinguishing between battles and dialogues, plus side-characters are almost totally abandoned in the anime.   Overall Rating: 6/10   51. _Summer _summer [アンダーバーサマー] [Rikuentai] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Harem Drama, Romance “Is there any girl you love?” By this word his friend asked during the school excursion, the protagonist, Kaizu Takumi, begins to aware of his interest in opposite sex. Of course, there are girls around him, for example, his childhood friend, Hatano Konami, his classmate, Ebizuka Shino, a school idol, Shimazu Kakana, etc. However, he himself hasn’t noticed his feelings until he is asked by his friend. He becomes anxious seeing his friend try to find his girl friend, and he resolves his mind to find a girl friend during the last summer of his high school life. Banality to the bones.   Overall Rating: 5/10   52. Paprika パプリカ [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Psychological Avant Garde, Award Winning, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense The world of dreams can be an incredible window into the psyche, showing one's deepest desires, aspirations, and repressed memories. One hopeful tech lab has been developing the "DC Mini," a device with the power to delve into the dreams of others. Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita have been tirelessly working to develop this technology with the hopes of using it to deeply explore patients' minds and help cure them of their psychological disorders. However, having access to the deepest corners of a person's mind comes with a tremendous responsibility. In the wrong hands, the DC Mini could be used as a form of psychological terrorism and cause mental breakdowns in the minds of targets. When this technology is stolen and people around them start acting strangely, Atsuko and Kosaku know they have a serious problem on their hands. Enlisting the help of Officer Konakawa, who has been receiving this experimental therapy, they search both the real and dream worlds for their mental terrorist. Never been a fan of Avant Garde, but Paprika is rather a mix. Can't deny I quite enjoyed both times I watched it, but the source is concentrated curiosity rather than something more serious.   Overall Rating: 7/10   53. Tekkon Kinkreet 鉄コン筋クリート [Studio 4°C] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Action, Adventure, Award Winning, Supernatural The streets of Treasure Town are said to belong to "The Cats." They know everything that goes on in the city, and no one can stir up trouble without going through them first. In reality, The Cats are a pair of orphan boys called Black and White, who aren’t afraid of anything or anyone. But their rule of the streets is challenged when the Yakuza come to town and start making changes. The wild Black and the carefree White have no one to rely on but themselves to get their Treasure Town back to the way it was. But their bond is tested as they quickly realize going back to how things were may no longer be an option. It is ridiculously boring and ugly. They try to play in psychology in the end to feel meta or something. Can't find anything to like here.   Overall Rating: 6/10   54. Top wo Nerae! & Top wo Nerae 2! Gattai Movie!! トップをねらえ！＆トップをねらえ２！合体劇場版!! [Gainax] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy This double feature comprises of Gunbuster and Die Buster (aka Gunbuster 2) condensed into a single theatrical release told in two parts with a musical intermission in between. The first part, Gunbuster the Movie, condenses the six episodes of the original OVA into a 95-minute movie featuring a new 5.1 audio remix and a redub by the original Japanese cast. The second part, Die Buster the Movie, mixes large chunks of the second OVA series with a few altered or newly-animated scenes to create a truncated take on Nono's story. I'm mad because 100% of it is retelling of first and second Gunbuster, even interlude that is more like prequel to Diebuster that adds nothing really new. Waste of time for those who watched the normal issues.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  5. kivandopulus
    Nodame Cantabile is the only masterpiece in this short season   1. Naruto: Shippuuden Naruto Shippuden -ナルト- 疾風伝  [Pierrot] (Finished 1/500) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Fantasy It has been two and a half years since Naruto Uzumaki left Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village, for intense training following events which fueled his desire to be stronger. Now Akatsuki, the mysterious organization of elite rogue ninja, is closing in on their grand plan which may threaten the safety of the entire shinobi world. Although Naruto is older and sinister events loom on the horizon, he has changed little in personality—still rambunctious and childish—though he is now far more confident and possesses an even greater determination to protect his friends and home. Come whatever may, Naruto will carry on with the fight for what is important to him, even at the expense of his own body, in the continuation of the saga about the boy who wishes to become Hokage. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Nodame Cantabile のだめカンタービレ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 23/23) Tags: Josei Adult Cast, Music Comedy, Romance Shinichi Chiaki is a first class musician whose dream is to play among the elites in Europe. Coming from a distinguished family, he is an infamous perfectionist—not only is he highly critical of himself, but of others as well. The only thing stopping Shinichi from leaving for Europe is his fear of flying. As a result, he's grounded in Japan. During his fourth year at Japan's top music university, Shinichi happens to meet Megumi Noda or, as she refers to herself, Nodame. On the surface, she seems to be an unkempt girl with no direction in life. However, when Shinichi hears Nodame play the piano for the first time, he is in awe of the kind of music she creates. Nevertheless, Shinichi is dismayed to discover that Nodame is his neighbor, and worse, she ends up falling head over heels in love with him. I enjoyed it when I first watched, but question is to what extent and how much it lost over time in comparison with newer titles. And I've grown much more skeptical over time.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou Tokyo Majin 東京魔人學園剣風帖　龖（トウ） [AIC Spirits, BeSTACK] (Finished 3/14) Tags: Martial Arts, School Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Something evil is stirring in the shadows of Tokyo... During the spring of his senior year in high school, quiet Tatsuma Hiyuu transfers to Magami Academy in Shinjuku. The mysterious boy's "outsider" status and his profound skills in martial arts quickly earn him the friendship of class delinquent Kyouichi Houraiji. Through an uncanny connection and a happenstance challenge, he also meets Yuuya Daigo of the wrestling club, the captain of the girls' archery club, Komaki Sakurai, and Aoi Misato, the Student Council President. During their encounter, there is a sudden, harsh disruption of the Ryumyaku (literally Dragon Pulse, otherwise known as Dragon Vein or Dragon Stream), the flow of arcane energy. The surge awakens within the five teenagers a latent power, giving them each a supernatural ability. Enlightened to their newly acquired gifts by Hisui, the young heir of the Kisaragi Clan who maintains his family's antiques shop - as well as their duty to protect Tokyo from Oni (demons) - the Magami students decide to use their power to protect the city from the onslaught of dark forces. Battling the demons alongside Hisui Kisaragi, the five unlikely friends discover that they may have to face a greater threat to Tokyo other than destroying a few malevolent, random monsters. The Ryumyaku had been disrupted by force, from someone invoking the Dark Arts - and that person has a wicked desire to unleash a long-dead evil. Can the teenagers overcome their own fears and flaws to fight against the Dark Arts? And soon they will also have to face their own destinies as they discover their Stars of Fate. This anime is based on a manga, which was based on the Nintendo role-playing video game originally released in 1998. Demon hunting is one of the most basic concepts, so details are important here, but Tokyo Majin does not suggest anything new - nice girls, cool guys, little information possessed. What especially irritates is that everyone tries to boss around and no one ever wants to be bossed around, so we're in constant quarrels over authority... It may eventually lead to something good, but I'm not enjoying the process.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny 一騎当千 Dragon Destiny  [Arms] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Martial Arts, School, Super Power Action, Ecchi The fierce confrontation among the Kanto high schools reaches new heights with the awakening of dragons in the Kyousho and Seito Academy's leaders, Moutoku Sousou and Gentoku Ryuubi. However, the power balance between these two institutions and their main opponent, Nanyo Academy, is jeopardized when Shimei Ryomou seizes a mysterious dragon orb in China. It is said that the orb grants its strength to a dragon wielder, and Shimei hopes to save Nanyo Academy's leader Hakufu Sonsaku from the adverse effects of her unstable gift. Meanwhile, Moutoku's powers completely consume him, and he loses control over his own body to the Demon King's soul, whose unlimited ambitions endanger the stability of the region and the safety of his allies. In the face of growing tensions to claim the dragon orb, Hakufu and Gentoku will have to put aside their differences and work together to thwart Moutoku's demonic plans. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Hidamari Sketch ひだまりスケッチ [Shaft] (Finished 2/12) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei, School, Visual Arts Comedy, Slice of Life Ever since she was young, Yuno has always had an interest in art. Now that she has been accepted to Yamabuki Arts High School, it means one thing—moving out. Living in a dorm at Hidamari Apartments alone, Yuno meets her neighbors: the hyperactive Miyako, the self-conscious Hiro, and the mature Sae. Despite their different personalities, they go to the same school, spend time together, and develop a strong friendship. Yuno's life won't be so lonely after all! Hidamari Sketch revolves around the antics and day-to-day lives of the girls living at Hidamari Apartments. Cute enough girls do stuff and fool around. And it's not funny, not super cute, not amusing, not conceptual. It's just a collection of yonkomas and empty dialogues, something like Azumanga at dormiitory on Saturdays. So affinity is a matter of experience - those who never seen anything better will like it, but I can name a handful of much better similar SOL works, so Hidamari Sketch pales in comparison .   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Major S3 メジャー (第3シリーズ) [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Team Sports Having bid farewell to his former teammates at Kaido High School's baseball club, Gorou Honda returns to his hometown eager to continue playing. Attending a new high school proves to be more difficult than he initially expected, as Tetsufumi Egashira's merciless slandering of his name prevents Gorou from being accepted into any school with an existing baseball team. Left with no other options, Gorou joins Seishuu High School, where his childhood friend Kaoru Shimizu also attends. However, Seishuu has always been an all-girls school until two years ago, so there is not yet a dedicated men’s baseball team. But nothing will stop Gorou in his pursuit of Koshien. He must now create a baseball team from scratch with the seven male students at Seishuu, but all of them are complete amateurs! He decides to train the incompetent team up to nationally competitive levels, but such a feat is easier said than done. Will Gorou once again perform miracles? Or will he give up on achieving his goal of defeating Kaido with his own team? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! がくえんゆーとぴあ まなびストレート！ [ufotable] (Finished 4/12) Tags: CGDCT, School Comedy, Slice of Life  Manabi Straight! follows the lives of a group of young high school girls living in the year 2035 while they attend the all-girl Seioh Private High School. Since the birth rate has dropped dramatically, schools are being closed down due to the sheer lack of students available to teach. Morale in schools has dropped dramatically, and Seioh is no exception. The story begins when the main character, Manami Amamiya, transfers to Seioh. After some initial hijinks involving a futuristic scooter and a swim meet, followed by an inspirational school song performance, she is inducted as the student council president. The story that follows pertains to Manami working with Mika Inamori, the only other student council member, and three other classmates named Mutsuki Uehara, Mei Etoh, and Momoha Odori, in student council matters. After some remodeling of the student council room, Manami and her friends set forth to plan for the upcoming student festival. I like character designs and CGDCT emotions here. I find humor to be good here... when it comes. But most of the time it's just some situation that's developing and being discussed - it's not funny or entertaining. Compared to Ichigo Mashimaro, there's a lot to learn. Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora Shattered Angels 京四郎と永遠（とわ）の空 [TNK] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Drama, Romance Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora revolves around the life of Kuu Shiratori, a seemingly normal high school girl who enjoys her school life in the giant city Academia, which is thought of as a symbol of recovery for humanity since already ten years have passed since the greatest disaster mankind had ever seen, occurred. Kuu has recently been having a recurring dream where a prince meets her and takes her away. One day, while all the students at her school are preparing for the upcoming school festival, the prince, whom she has met several times in her dreams, appears. The prince, Kyoshiro Ayanokoji, requests of her just as he had done in Kuu's dreams, "Let's go... together..." Main heroine who dreams and waits for prince on white horse considering herself special... is not a good heroine, to put it mildly. Finding a giant mecha spontaneously and being attacked by more and more enemies for some reason is beyond simple as concept. Too much cringe to even advance past first episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Shuffle! Memories シャッフル！メモリーズ [asread.] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Harem, School Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi A recap of the Shuffle world, set ten years in the future. Gods, Demons, and Humans freely visit the other worlds as if traveling overseas, and romance is in the air. Demons, Gods, And Humans together have been falling in love and creating new families, breaking down the wall that once seperated them. Past memories are visited by Rin Tsuchimi and the events that occured between him and Lisianthus, Nerine, Kaede, Asa, and Primula. It's not even a sequel, but a recap... guess Navel can join Key in that special layer of hell where creators of remakes on totally fine existing anime reside.   Overall Rating: 4/10   10. Venus Versus Virus ヴィーナス ヴァーサス ヴァイアラス [Studio Hibari] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Drama, Romance, Supernatural  Venus Versus Virus follows regular schoolgirl Sumire who's had the ability to see ghosts since a young age. She tells friends and family about this fact and they just dismiss it, thinking she's a liar. A chance encounter with a broach flying out of nowhere, a monster and gothloli clad monster killer named Lucia leaves her with a life changing decision to use her ability and fight against these "viruses" feeding upon the human race. Fighting demons is overused, so need some strong elements to back it. And I did not discover any strong sides here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette レ・ミゼラブル 少女コゼット [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Historical Drama  In 19th century France, a struggling single mother, Fantine, leaves her three-year-old daughter Cosette in the care of her new acquaintances, the Thernadiers. Unfortunately, Cosette's caretakers prove to be anything but loving, and the poor girl is subjected to repeated abuse and forced servitude. Still, she endures the torment in the hopes of seeing her mother once again. One night, while doing errands for her host family, Cosette is assisted by an honorable stranger named Jean Valjean. After a brief conversation with the young girl, Jean acknowledges her as the type of person he has been seeking and rescues her from the clutches of the Thernadiers. They make their way to a nearby town where Cosette enjoys a new life thanks to her savior. Under Jean's guidance, Cosette promises to help others with her newfound freedom. She pledges to heal the nation, ensuring that no one else suffers her fate. Though the road ahead is paved with tragedies left by the French Revolution, this idealistic girl will not rest until France is freed from poverty and suffering. World masterpiece theater... for those who likes child abuse! If not, why this is repeating over and over in every second its work... Anyway, I'm just not a fan of this series.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Yes! Precure 5 Yes! プリキュア5  [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/49) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Action, Fantasy Yumehara Nozomi, a regular student, finds a magical book called the Dream Collet in the library and meets Coco and Nuts, two creatures from the Palmier Kingdom. They plead with Nozomi to restore their world, which has been destroyed by an organization called the Nightmares, by completing the Dream Collet and finding the 55 Pinkies to make any wish come true. Meanwhile, the Nightmares are moving into the real world. Once Nozomi agrees to help, Coco and Nuts transform her into the magical girl Cure Dream and turn four fellow students into her Pretty Cure team. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Rocket Girls ロケットガール [Mook DLE] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Space Adventure, Sci-Fi When Yukari Morita decided to look for her missing father who disappeared in the South Seas, she had no idea how far her journey would take her. Just traveling to the Solomon Islands is a long way for a high school girl to go on her own, but then Yukari runs into an astronaut from the Solomon Space Association, which has been trying to build a rocket powerful enough launch a man into space. Upon meeting the petite Yukari, however, SSA director Nasuda realizes that she's small enough to go up in a less powerful rocket the SSA has already built! So he offers her a deal: if Yukari agrees to become their astronaut, the SSA will help find her missing father! Will Yukari have the right stuff to blast off in the wildest space quest ever? Don't remember any any about rockets that I'd like (Wings of Honneamise is more of a honorary old title), because they are always slow and eventless - some train while some build. Rocket Girls actually manages to create a nice alive world. But it still aims at space travel romanticism, something that I lack.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Reideen ライディーン  [Production I.G] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi  Saiga is a normal high school student with a gift in mathematics. His daily routine is disrupted when his family gets news that his Father's remains have been discovered—a noted archeologist and researcher who had gone missing while exploring a site many years before. Among his remains were notes and artifacts that needed to be identified by the family near a notable triangular mountain in Japan known as "Japan's pyramid", a place suspected by some to be man-made. A meteor containing a strange robotic lifeform falls from the sky and begins to cause destruction, putting Saiga in danger and causing a mysterious bracelet from his father's research to activate and merge him with an ancient robot burried within the pyramid—a robot the runes describe as Reideen. It is now up to Saiga and guardian Reideen to fight against this unknown alien threat from the sky. Reideen is a franchise that dates back to 70s as most mecha, so elements are basic and generally simple. 3D mecha fighting looks decent, but it's always about being overpowered and finding more and more inner reserves in Reideen to flip the table. Only for mecha fans.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Himawari!! Himawari Too!! ひまわりっ！！ [Arms] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Comedy, Romance  Himawari is back in all her comical ninja mischief. The sequel to Himawari continues with the many odd and hilarious adventures of Himawari, Hayato and her ninja classmates. Season two delves into Himawari and Hayato's past. Will new secrets be revealed? Will Himawari finally find out about her past and the mysterious ninja that saved her when she was little? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Getsumen To Heiki Mina 月面兎兵器ミーナ [Gonzo] (Finished 4/11) Tags: Parody, Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi An animated spin-off from the Densha Otoko (Trainman) TV drama. In the drama, actor Itoh Atsushi plays the otaku Yamada, whose main love in life is the Mina anime, a cutesy busty heroine with floppy rabbit ears and carrots sticking out her rear. Mina itself is a character homage which triggers back to the Daicon Animation done by GAINAX where a similar nameless bunny girl appeared. Densha Otoko futher featured an opening with scenes which were appearing back in the Daicon Animation. Busty girls fight huge aliens that show up the same place the same time, and it's all broadcasted on TV. It's a lively and amusing parody. But there's also a lot of stupidity and time wasting along the way. The initial fuse is enough for several episodes, but eventually it becomes an aimless hassle.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Saint October セイントオクトーバー [Studio Comet] (Finished 2/26) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Whether it is the future or the past it is the world of fantasy and horror hiding in the shadow of the demon city. In the city, consecutive mysterious incidents that cannot be solved by science have occurred. To solve the incidents, they gather three girl detectives possessing special abilities. Hayama Kotono. She is an orphan living in a convent. Shirafuji Natuski. She is Kotono's classmate and a pop idol. Hijiri Misaki. She is a mysterious girl who fights against nightmares of her previous life. Those who want to bring the Judgement Day to the world. Those who want to save the world. Which is justice, and which is evil? When Kotono encounters a boy who lost his memory, the wheel of the story begins to move but slowly. Then, solving the mysteries, the three girls will confront the fate that will influence the existence of the human beings. Absurd mahou shoujo with Galaxy Angel coming to mind as a close comparison. Parody humor is all right, but deliberate conceptual shifts and slipups is something I can't bear.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Juusou Kikou Dancougar Nova 獣装機攻ダンクーガノヴァ [Ashi Productions] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Mecha In the 22nd century, there are no longer any world wide wars. Instead, small scale wars break out all over the Earth. Meanwhile, a large robot appears who protects the weak. It is called "Dancougar Nova". Some even call it God. However, no one knows the reason for its existence - not even its pilots. Then, another robot, beyond anyone's expectations, reveals itself as the true enemy and begins its attack on the Earth. Dancougar Nova retaliates against this enemy with a power that was kept secret until now. Will Dancougar Nova be able to save the Earth? The prelude to this explosive confrontation rings out. Another modern take on old mecha. Concept is not sophisticated enough for anyone but mecha fans.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Master of Epic: The Animation Age マスター オブ エピック The Animation Age [Gonzo, Palm Studio] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Video Game Comedy, Fantasy Over millions of years, there have been many ages - war, gods, and future to name a few. Each of these was infinitely less exciting than the current Animation Age! In this RPG-esque existence, becoming stronger is paramount to one's survival and leveling up is a must. From pacifists to news casting, from fishing woes to love advice, there's nothing the Animation Age can't show or teach us about life in a game world! Armed with healing spells, changes of clothes and plenty of summoned familiars, the characters of Master of Epic will do what it takes to level up and live to fight another day! I was really intrigued by description, but in fact it's just gags around different MMORPG mechanics shown on example of some five different casts. Humor can be nice, but in majority cases it's not, and there's nothing but it. Without actual plot I definitely can't recommend it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Qin Shi Mingyue: Bai Bu Fei Jian Qin's Moon: Hundred Steps Flying Sword 秦时明月之百步飞剑 [Sparkly Key Animation Studio] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts Action, Fantasy Set during the Qin Dynasty in ancient China, a brave assassin attempts to kill the Emperor to save his homeland. However, the assassin fails and in retaliation, the Emperor sends his troops to kill his eight year old son. A highly skilled swordsman intervenes and rescues the boy. After their escape from the forces of the Emperor, they embark on a journey to change the destiny of the empire while encountering several friends and foes along the way. Some poor machinima in Chinese. Visuals are in no state to be watched. Story is shounen in Chinese mythology with historical references, so not appealing to me at all too.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. GR: Giant Robo GR -ジャイアントロボ- [A.C.G.T.] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Military Adventure, Sci-Fi The year is 20XX. Mysterious huge robots called "Giant Robo (GR)" started to appear all over the world and destroy cities. The earth was covered with fear. And their next target is Japan! The hero of this animation Daisaku Kusama, who works in a diving shop, encounters a mysterious girl, simply called V who leads him to make a contract with an enormous robot "Giant Robo 1 (GR1)" at the ancient ruins (Minami Yonaguni Island) in Okinawa. He made a contract with UNISOM (good guys) and was approved to be a commander of GR1. Thus his battle has begun against GRO (bad guys) and creates a lot of dramas. Before long, Giant Robo of the 21st century will ask the world the true meaning of its power. Third old mecha reinstallation within a season. And this version widely uses 3D and sharp drawing, so original might be more preferable...   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Murder Princess マーダープリンセス [Bee Train] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy After a sudden coup d'etat by the court scientist Dr. Akamashi results in the king's death, Princess Alita Castilia Arago Forland is forced to flee the capital. During her mad dash for survival deep into the forest, Alita collides with the brutal and temperamental bounty hunter Falis, which causes the two women to magically switch bodies. Using her original body as collateral, Alita convinces Falis—and her henchmen Dominikov and Pete—to help take back the capital from the treasonous scientist by pretending to be the real princess. However, while the plan was initially successful, the only diplomacy Falis knows is with her sword. Alita must now work hard to make sure the kingdom is not trading one royal scandal for another, all while the two displaced women look for a way to return to their original bodies. After pilot episode things settle down and we're supposed to enjoy yuri-ish relationship of two heroines and occasional attacks. It's a nice fighting action with nice characters, but that's it, nothing exceptional.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Ichigo Mashimaro OVA Strawberry Marshmallow OVA 苺ましまろ OVA [Daume] (Finished 3/3) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei, School Comedy, Slice of Life Based on Barasui's manga series, Ichigo Mashimaro follows the life of Nobue Itou, her younger sister Chika, and her friends. The basic premise of the show can be summed up in "cute girls do cute things in cute ways", be it trying to quit smoking, going outside to play, celebrating a holiday, or doing school work. This OVA picks up where the series left off, continuing the adventures of your everyday life, only cuter. Hilarious concentrated gags, even more advanced than in original. Can't give the derivative the same score though, plus it's only one hour long.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Byousoku 5 Centimeter 5 Centimeters Per Second 秒速５センチメートル [CoMix Wave Films] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Drama, Romance  What happens when two people love each other but just aren't meant to be together? Takaki Toono and Akari Shinohara are childhood friends, but circumstances beyond their control tear them apart. They promise to stay in contact, and although the progression of time widens the distance between them, the chain of memories remains ever-present. Byousoku 5 Centimeter is a romantic drama that focuses on the mundane and harsh reality of long-distance relationships. Stuck in the past and unable to make any new memories, Takaki and Akari cling to the hope of seeing each other again. They live their everyday lives half-heartedly, both hurting themselves and the people around them. First story is typical Makoto Shinkai with whispers and remote relationship, but at least no one is terminally ill, a huge step forward. Second story is surprisingly more lively with only whisper commentaries. Third one is basically non-existent as as it's mostly a clip explaining the title. What can I say, as usual, nothing deep, but it demonstrates the capabilities of visual quality and is probably good to watch for couples.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Highlander: The Search for Vengeance ハイランダー [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi  Colin MacLeod, the immortal Scottish Highlander, travels with the wise-cracking ghost Amergan in search of the immortal despot Marcus Octavius, who killed Colin's lover on the Celtic plains centuries earlier. The once great city of New York is now submerged under water, with only one dominant fortress towering over the sea, the fortress of Marcus Octavius. MacLeod is torn between saving the survivors of New York and hunting down his nemesis. Highlander franchise puts a lot of limitations, but it's totally fine as fighting action movie with revenge pursue through the ages.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Cheonnyeon-yeowoo Yeowoobi 천년여우 여우비 [Sunwoo Entertainment] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Yobi, The Five Tailed Fox revolves around a kumiho, a nine-tailed fox that can assume different forms including human. Kumiho are familiar figures in Korean folk tales, and they are usually depicted as magical creatures that take female form to lure and prey on humans. This time, however, our protagonist is a young, kind-hearted fox with only five tails, instead of nine. After losing her family to fox hunters, five-tailed Yobi lives in the forest with some shipwrecked aliens, far away from the humans. When one of her alien friends gets captured by a villager, Yobi has no choice but to adventure into the human world to rescue him. At the village, Yobi meets many humans, including Geum Yee who studies at a school for maladjusted children. Interested in Geum Yee, Yobi joins the students and revels in the fun of human life, but both a fox hunter and a mysterious shadow man are on her trail. First high quality Korean anime movie, but when it does not depict humans. Story reminds kids' movie Pom Poko by Studio Ghibli a lot, but with the opposite direction - to accumulate with humans rather than to be left alone. And that makes it childish as well.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Oshare Majo Love and Berry: Shiawase no Mahou オシャレ魔女 ラブ and ベリー しあわせのまほう [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Idols (Female), Music  A movie based on the popular fashion card and arcade dance game aimed at young girls. The movie features the magical Princesses Love and Berry, who posess Fashion Magic. While Love and Berry are best friends, they become rivals for attention when they're on the dance floor. Not translated. Barbie crap about dress-up cards and horrible 3D dances.   Overall Rating: 4/10
  6. kivandopulus
    I was going to never rate comedies highly, but Lucky☆Star is more than a comedy, it's a meta-comedy and is enjoyable on many layers. Claymore is only slightly behind. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Bokura no definitely deserve a mention, but these are more flawed works.   1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gurren Lagann 天元突破グレンラガン [Gainax] (Finished 27/27) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure, Award Winning, Sci-Fi Simon and Kamina were born and raised in a deep, underground village, hidden from the fabled surface. Kamina is a free-spirited loose cannon bent on making a name for himself, while Simon is a timid young boy with no real aspirations. One day while excavating the earth, Simon stumbles upon a mysterious object that turns out to be the ignition key to an ancient artifact of war, which the duo dubs Lagann. Using their new weapon, Simon and Kamina fend off a surprise attack from the surface with the help of Yoko Littner, a hot-blooded redhead wielding a massive gun who wanders the world above. In the aftermath of the battle, the sky is now in plain view, prompting Simon and Kamina to set off on a journey alongside Yoko to explore the wastelands of the surface. Soon, they join the fight against the "Beastmen," humanoid creatures that terrorize the remnants of humanity in powerful robots called "Gunmen." Although they face some challenges and setbacks, the trio bravely fights these new enemies alongside other survivors to reclaim the surface, while slowly unraveling a galaxy-sized mystery. I considered Gurren Lagann to be a perfect masterpiece after first watch (or rather first drop as I understand now). Now I start to see some irritations in Kamina behavior and even occasionally in Yuna behavior. Plus, can't call this anime intellectual as it's rather counter-intellectual with constant praising of legendary stupidity. After first several episodes pace seriously slows down with couple episodes bearing primarily fanservice. And it turned out that my memories were either flawed or not regarding complete series as I remembered Kamina as one of protagonists, something like in Fullmetal Alchemist , and I had no recollections of two structural parts like some Code Geass. Now I understand that second half of Gurren Lagann came before second season of Code Geass and thus could be inspiration for it... which is a very unsettling thought. I hope I tackled slippery spoilers road well enough. I'm greatly disappointed in the second half of Gurren Lagann, and that's to put it mildly. Guess Gainax wanted to squeeze everything out of the concept and preferred that to a decent place in history. Gurren Lagann is still a whole head more talented than Code Geass .   Overall Rating: 7/10   2. Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha Darker than Black Darker than BLACK -黒の契約者- [Bones] (Finished 15/25) Tags: Super Power Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi  It has been 10 years since Heaven's Gate appeared in South America and Hell's Gate appeared in Japan, veiling the once familiar night sky with an oppressive skyscape. Their purposes unknown, these Gates are spaces in which the very laws of physics are ignored. With the appearance of the Gates emerged Contractors, who, in exchange for their humanity, are granted supernatural abilities. In the Japanese city surrounding Hell’s Gate, Section 4 Chief Misaki Kirihara finds herself at odds with an infamous Contractor codenamed Hei. Called "Black Reaper" in the underground world, Hei, like his associates, undertakes missions for the mysterious and ruthless Syndicate while slowly peeling back the dark layers covering a nefarious plot that threatens the very existence of Contractors. From the mind of Tensai Okamura comes a sci-fi thriller taking the form of a subtle exposé on a war in which political positions and justice have no sway—a war waged exclusively in the shadows. Mystery genre is a poor excuse for disjointed unfocused story with many short arcs and different set of characters. I never grew to like both this world with superpowers and conspiracies and its inhabitants. For me it's just anthology that tries to seem bigger than it is.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Claymore クレイモア [Madhouse] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Shounen Gore Action, Adventure, Fantasy When a shapeshifting demon with a thirst for human flesh, known as "youma," arrives in Raki's village, a lone woman with silver eyes walks into town with only a sword upon her back. She is a "Claymore," a being manufactured as half-human and half-youma, for the express purpose of exterminating these monsters. After Raki's family is killed, the Claymore saves his life, but he is subsequently banished from his home. With nowhere else to go, Raki finds the Claymore, known as Clare, and decides to follow her on her journeys. As the pair travel from town to town, defeating youma along the way, more about Clare's organization and her fellow warriors comes to light. With every town cleansed and every demon destroyed, they come closer to the youma on which Clare has sought vengeance ever since she chose to become a Claymore. It was always a perfect masterpiece for me, but having rewatched it now I sense lack of world details and focus on duels mostly. It may be just nitpicking as I don't a see a way to improve it, but it's not  perfect.   Overall Rating: 9/10   4. Lucky☆Star らき☆すた [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 24/24) Tags: CGDCT, Gag Humor, Otaku Culture, School Comedy Lucky☆Star follows the daily lives of four cute high school girls—Konata Izumi, the lazy otaku; the Hiiragi twins, Tsukasa and Kagami (sugar and spice, respectively); and the smart and well-mannered Miyuki Takara. As they go about their lives at school and beyond, they develop their eccentric and lively friendship and making humorous observations about the world around them. Be it Japanese tradition, the intricacies of otaku culture, academics, or the correct way of preparing and eating various foods—no subject is safe from their musings. Don't really want to search for flaws deliberately. It's inventive and hilarious.   Overall Rating: 10/10   5. Lovely★Complex Lovely Complex ラブ★コン [Toei Animation] (Finished 8/24) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance Love is unusual for Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Ootani, who are both striving to find their ideal partner in high school—172 cm tall Koizumi is much taller than the average girl, and Ootani is much shorter than the average guy at 156 cm. To add to their plights, their crushes fall in love with each other, leaving Koizumi and Ootani comically flustered and heartbroken. To make matters worse, they're even labeled as a comedy duo by their homeroom teacher due to their personalities and the stark difference in their heights, and their classmates even think of their arguments as sketches. Lovely★Complex follows Koizumi and Ootani as they encourage each other in finding love and become close friends. Apart from their ridiculous antics, they soon find out an unexpected similarity in their music and fashion tastes. Maybe they possess a chemistry yet unknown, but could love ever bloom between the mismatched pair? All the height and manzai duo jokes don't look funny to me, and they make the bulk of the series. It's not advanced enough. In the end I can't enjoy it and just don't want to go on.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Kaze no Stigma 風のスティグマ [Gonzo] (Finished 6/24) Tags: Action, Romance, Supernatural  Kazuma Yagami is a user of "Fuujutsu," the ability to control the wind. He returns to his old home, the noble Kannagi household, after being banished four years ago for his inability to control fire and his subsequent defeat in a duel at the hands of his younger cousin, Ayano Kannagi. Returning after such a brutal exile already gives rise to many conflicts, but to make matters worse, several Kannagi family members have recently been murdered with Fuujutsu. This leads the Kannagi family, including the hot-headed Ayano, to suspect Kazuma as the culprit. Now, Kazuma must not only clear his name, but also aid the family he shares a mutual hatred with, in order to discover the true identity of the killer. Fiery shounen with disjointed story. Feels typical and average. Characters are especially underwhelming.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Afro Samurai アフロサムライ [Gonzo] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Gore, Samurai Action, Adventure When he was a young boy, Afro witnessed his father be cut down in a duel at the hands of a man known only as Justice. After taking the life of Afro's father, Justice cast aside his Number Two headband and took the Number One to claim its godly powers as his own. Years later, having obtained the Number Two headband which grants him the right to challenge the Number One, Afro moves forward in his hunt for revenge on the man who murdered his father. There is just one thing that stands in his way—everyone else in the world! Though the Number One can only be challenged by the Number Two, the Number Two can be challenged by anyone. As his enemies gather to try and take the title of Number Two, Afro must fight through a myriad of foes and obstacles if he hopes to reach the Number One and claim vengeance once and for all. Good Gonzo action. Not enough everything else.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Seto no Hanayome My Bride is a Mermaid 瀬戸の花嫁 [Gonzo, AIC] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Organized Crime, Parody, School Comedy, Romance During his summer vacation, middle school student Nagasumi Michishio travels to the Seto Inland Sea. One day, while swimming at Mio Sun Beach, his leg suddenly cramps. No one is close enough to notice his desperate screams for help, and so he sinks into the ocean, where he is left to drown alone. Just as he loses consciousness, however, a mermaid appears and saves his life. That night, Nagasumi is visited by his savior, a girl who introduces herself as Sun Seto—a mermaid from a yakuza family. As it turns out, under mermaid law, a mermaid whose identity is revealed to a human must be punished by execution. To avoid this harrowing outcome, the Seto family propose a solution: Nagasumi must marry Sun or die at the hands of Gouzaburou, Sun's father and boss of the Seto clan. Faced with no other option, Nagasumi takes her hand in marriage. Now, the newlyweds face the difficult task of keeping their relationship secret. Between Gouzaburou's unending attempts on Nagasumi's life and the eccentric antics of a slew of antagonists, a genuine and innocent love blossoms between the pair as they adapt to their new life. The concept of secret marriage while at school is quite widely used, so it all depends on execution as it works for me only with a realistic or sophisticated development. Seto no Hanayome is neither, but rather a typical parody romcom.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Hayate no Gotoku! Hayate the Combat Butler ハヤテのごとく！ [SynergySP] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Shounen Harem, Parody Action, Comedy, Romance According to Murphy's Law, "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong," and truer words cannot describe the unfortunate life of the hard-working Hayate Ayasaki. Abandoned by his parents after accumulating a debt of over one hundred fifty million yen, he is sold off to the yakuza, initiating his swift getaway from a future he does not want. On that fateful night, he runs into Nagi Sanzenin, a young girl whom he decides to try and kidnap to pay for his family's massive debt. Unfortunately, due to his kind-hearted nature and a string of misunderstandings, Nagi believes Hayate to be confessing his love to her. After saving her from real kidnappers, Hayate is hired as Nagi's personal butler, upon which she is revealed to be a member of one of the wealthiest families in Japan. Highly skilled but cursed with the world's worst luck, Hayate gets straight to work serving his employer all the while trying to deal with the many misfortunes that befall him. From taking care of a mansion to fending off dangerous foes, and even unintentionally wooing the hearts of the women around him, Hayate is in over his head in the butler comedy Hayate no Gotoku! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Seirei no Moribito Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit 精霊の守り人 [Production I.G] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  On the precipice of a cataclysmic drought, the Star Readers of the Shin Yogo Empire must devise a plan to avoid widespread famine. It is written in ancient myths that the first emperor, along with eight warriors, slew a water demon to avoid a great drought and save the land that was to become Shin Yogo. If a water demon was to appear once more, its death could bring salvation. However, the water demon manifests itself within the body of the emperor's son, Prince Chagum—by the emperor's order, Chagum is to be sacrificed to save the empire. Meanwhile, a mysterious spear-wielding mercenary named Balsa arrives in Shin Yogo on business. After saving Chagum from a thinly veiled assassination attempt, she is tasked by Chagum's mother to protect him from the emperor and his hunters. Bound by a sacred vow she once made, Balsa accepts. Seirei no Moribito follows Balsa as she embarks on her journey to protect Chagum, exploring the beauty of life, nature, family, and the bonds that form between strangers. Concept is to run away and waste time till spirit hatches, after first turbulent episodes things settle down and anime starts to waste our time with eventless episodes. I watched to the end only to see if it ends with a filler as well. And of course they needed to finish the water beasts plotline, but the total amount of content is not enough even for one season... let alone two...   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Bokura no ぼくらの [Gonzo] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Seinen Mecha, Psychological, Survival Drama, Sci-Fi As fifteen children at a summer camp enjoy their carefree vacation together, they stumble upon a small cave near the beach. The group finds a mysterious room deep within its caverns, where they meet a strange man who calls himself Kokopelli. The man invites the children to play a game that involves taking turns controlling a robot to protect the Earth against aliens. Thinking it might be an interesting computer game, all but one of the children sign a contract agreeing to play. Later that day, the giant robot appears in person and the children are teleported into its cockpit, where they find Kokopelli, who pilots a fight against a similar robotic creature that has appeared nearby. After winning the battle, Kokopelli tries to apologize but is interrupted as the children are teleported back to the ground in the midst of the carnage. As the bewilderment following the fight settles, the robot suddenly disappears and the children are left scared and confused. Despite seeming like a harmless game at first, the children never anticipated the stakes of this game and how their pasts would intertwine with their decisions going forward. It had a pretty traumatic impression on me long ago, so I refuse to rewatch it now, but it's a really memorable mecha that deserves a highlight.   Overall Rating: 7/10   12. Romeo x Juliet ロミオ×ジュリエット [Gonzo] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Historical Drama, Fantasy, Romance On the floating continent of Neo Verona, the Montague family slaughters the entire Capulet family and seizes control of the kingdom. The true heir to the throne, Juliet Fiammata Asto Capulet, manages to escape the onslaught and is hidden away by loyalists for 14 years with hope that she may one day overthrow the cruel Montague regime. Despite having forgotten the murder of her entire family, Juliet now secretly protects the oppressed citizens of Neo Verona as a vigilante called the Red Whirlwind. During one of her escapades she meets Romeo Candorebanto Montague, the kind and selfless son of the tyrannical Prince Laertes Montague, and without knowledge of each other's background, they both fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately, however, their destiny is a cursed one: not only does each of the two families wish to obliterate the other, but an ancient secret hidden beneath Neo Verona also threatens their undying love for each other. Will they be able to defy the stars, or is this truly a love that can never be? I can't stand it when old works are distorted just because lack of talent to invent something own. All I see here is typical mindless extension without much talent put into it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Dennou Coil Den-noh Coil 電脳コイル [Madhouse] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Adventure, Award Winning, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi  In the near future, augmented reality has become a key part of daily life. A gentle middle school girl named Yuuko "Yasako" Okonogi and her family have just moved to Daikoku City despite rumors of people disappearing. There, her grandmother, nicknamed "Mega-baa," runs a shop called Megasia that specializes in illegal tools which interact with parts of the virtual world. Mega-baa also hosts an unofficial detective agency called "Coil," a group of children around Yasako's age who find and handle corruption of the virtual world. Yasako gets involved with the group when Fumie Hashimoto, a playful member of Coil, helps rescue her cyberdog Densuke after getting trapped in virtual space while chasing a mysterious virus. Also investigating these corruptions and viruses is an abrasive hacker named Yuuko Amasawa, who the others take to calling Isako. Can Coil discover the truths behind the mysterious viruses and corruption, and if they can, at what cost? Yet another 26-episode show that does not have enough content. Protagonists are more young than desired. There's deliberately no cuteness. I remember I enjoyed it substantially over 10 years ago, and it's one of those rare anime that I'd recommend children to watch, but for adults not that great.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Heroic Age ヒロイック・エイジ [Xebec] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi When the Golden Race invited other races to join them in the stars, three sentient races answered their call. The Goldens called them the Bronze, Silver and Heroic Tribes. Just before the Gold Tribe left to travel to another Universe, a fourth race appeared, traveling to the stars on their own accomplishments. The Golds named the human race the Iron Tribe. During the passing of time, humanity suffers at the hands of the more dominant races and is now facing extinction. Following a prophecy left by the Gold Tribe, Princess Deianeira sets out to search for the powerful being who might be able to save humankind. She meets a wild haired boy on an abandoned planet—a fateful encounter that will not only change the fortunes of Humanity, but also the fate of the universe. Xebec has a long history of making surprisingly boring shows of which I liked exactly zero. This one is no exception and reeks of averageness and simplicity even despite somewhat more inventive synopsis that usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Bakugan Battle Brawlers 爆丸バトルブローラーズ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Strategy Game Action, Fantasy Mysterious cards came down from the sky one day. Capable of summoning powerful creatures from another dimension, they became the centerpiece of a new game called Bakugan. The game gained instant popularity among children and teenagers, with the best of them competing in a worldwide ranking. Meanwhile, war for domination over Vestroia, the homeland of Bakugan cards, rages on. Invaded by the White Dragon Naga and his servants, the Doom Beings, the realm becomes increasingly destabilized. Dimensions begin to merge and many Bakugan players come to realize that their pastime is not merely a game. Danma Kuusou, one such Bakugan player, intends to become the World Ranking's leader someday. However, during one of his fights he experiences a vision of a clash in Vestroia. The fight suddenly moves to Earth, where Danma comes into possession of a talking, mighty fire Bakugan, Pyrus Dragonoid. He soon gets dragged into the conflict, and together with his Bakugan Brawlers team, must traverse the dimensions and restore balance in a ravaged world. How come this variation of card pokemon is not marked as for kids...   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Nagasarete Airantou ながされて藍蘭島  [feel.] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Harem Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Ikuto Touhohin just had a fight with his old man, one that led him to make a rash decision to run away from home. He boards a ship, deciding to take a vacation, but the ship is suddenly hit by a huge storm—one that sends Ikuto overboard! When he regains consciousness, he realizes he is still alive on some island. An isolated island. An isolated island with nothing but girls. Beautiful girls. Stranded on an island with only girls, no electricity, gas, radio, television, like he was back in the stone age. A light harem setting for light mood.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Sola  [Nomad] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Drama, Romance, Supernatural  Yorito Morimiya is obsessed with the sky. He especially loves taking pictures of its array of different faces—sunrises, sunsets, clouds. On one of his early-morning excursions to photograph the sunrise, Yorito meets a strange girl engaged in an argument with a vending machine. By the time that Yorito forces the girl's tomato juice out of the machine, she's vanished without a trace. Sola follows the story of Yorito, his sister Aono, and their childhood friends Mana and Koyori Ishizuki, as well as that of a mysterious girl who appears and disappears, and who seems to harbor a dark secret. In a world where magic and the supernatural are never far below the surface and no one is who they seem to be, love and loneliness vie for supremacy beneath Yorito's sky. An OK love triangle with some supernatural. For me it's too typical and stale, both in dialogues and characters. But it should satisfy basic demands well if expectations aren't set super high by modern romance anime like in my case.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Ookiku Furikabutte Big Windup! おおきく振りかぶって [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Seinen Team Sports Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school's baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher. Although unwilling at first, Mihashi realizes that this is a place where he will be accepted for who he is; with help from the catcher Takaya Abe, he starts to have more confidence in his own abilities. Abe, seeing the potential in Mihashi, makes it a goal to help him become a pitcher worthy of being called an ace. All I can say is better than usual spokon, but better ask elsewhere.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Kaibutsu Oujo Princess Resurrection 怪物王女 [Madhouse] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Shounen Vampire Action, Comedy, Horror, Supernatural When Hiro Hiyorimi tries to save a beautiful young woman from certain death, he ends up a dead hero himself! However, since the drop-dead girl is Hime, daughter of the King of the Monsters, his "reward" is to come back as a not-quite-living soldier in her honor guard of horror! That means helping fight off the army of supernatural monstrosities Hime's siblings are unleashing against her in hopes of moving up the ladder of succession. And if facing off with vampires and zombies isn't bad enough, how can anyone be prepared for the REALLY weird ones, like were-sharks, pandas and killer dumplings? This sure as hell isn't the afterlife Hiro was hoping for, but the really sad part is that Hime is the good girl in all of this... or at least as close to good as you can come when you're on the wrong side of the gates of hell! From the synopsis it's clear that there can be nothing serious, but in reality it's mediocre in every field unless some character catches attention. Protagonist gets protected from different attacking monsters, and that's the bulk of it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Terra e... (TV) 地球へ… [Tokyo Kids, Minami Machi Bugyousho] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Shounen Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi When humanity realized that the Earth, or Terra, had been polluted beyond fixing, the planet's governments united under a unique authoritarian system named Superior Domination (SD) and started to colonize space. Centuries later, mankind has given up its freedom in favor of the AI Grand Mother; when someone reaches the age of 14, their memories are wiped and they are automatically assigned a new role in society. Jomy Marquis Shin, a sensitive young man raised by loving parents, is saved from this grim fate by Soldier Blue, the current leader of the Mu race—a new species of human beings blessed with psychic abilities. However, in the eyes of SD, the existence of people like Jomy threatens the new paradigm of humanity. Hunted down by the hounds of the government, Jomy finds solace in the welcoming arms of the Mu, who hide aboard the spaceship Shangri-La. Now the leader of the Mu resistance years later, Jomy embarks on a journey toward Terra to escape from SD's manhunt led by Keith Anyan, an ambitious and ruthless rising star of humanity. Will Jomy and his people manage to reach the cradle of humanity before Keith destroys their last hope? I never liked old esper OVA, but it was a short memorable story to watch. Remaking it as 24-episode drag is just inhumane. Literally everything irritates me here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. El Cazador de la Bruja エル・カザド [Bee Train] (Finished 6/26) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Mystery  Nadie is a bounty hunter with an attitude, and she's got a lock on her next target: Ellis, a young amnesiac girl who is a suspect in the murder of a famous scientist. Nadie manages to apprehend Ellis, but on a whim, decides to accompany her to Wiñay Marka, a place which supposedly holds the key to unlocking Ellis's memories and her mysterious past. However, Nadie cautions Ellis that this does not mean she will go free—once Ellis has found what she is looking for, Nadie will turn her over to the authorities. With Ellis's connection to a gemstone called the Inca Rose as their only guide, the two set off on their journey south through Mexico to search for the mysterious "Eternal City" of Wiñay Marka. Mystery, bounty hunter, amnesiac girl and travelling... so many elements that I dislike. This is another representative of the genre "wasting time" as nothing ever develops while sunk in tons of generic situations.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Blue Dragon ブルー・ドラゴン [Pierrot] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural  As Shu's village was being attacked by an unknown enemy, he and his friends, Jiro and Kluke decide to defend their home. They soon meet warrior Zola and receive the powers of Shadow, an ability that let's them transform their shadow into a powerful monster. Shu receives one of the most powerful monsters, Blue Dragon, and they all set out to defeat their enemy. A mix between dragon quest, digimons and first dragon ball, it's for kids and a bit older children.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 魔法少女リリカルなのは [Seven Arcs] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, Super Power Action, Comedy, Drama Set 10 years after Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and the rest of the crew are now working full time in the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Nanoha is a combat instructor, Fate is a special investigator, and Hayate is a commanding officer. They must unite once again to save the dimensions. Introducing new characters as well: Subaru, Teana, Caro and Erio. Stand by. Ready. Set up! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Kamichama Karin かみちゃまかりん [Satelight] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shoujo Mahou Shoujo, School Comedy, Fantasy, Romance Thirteen-year-old Karin Hanazono feels like her life can't get any worse, Her parents died when she was younger, leaving her with an aunt who doesn't hesitate to call her stupid and useless over her poor grades. Her only friend, her cat named Shii-chan, passed away recently, leaving her completely alone. All she has left of her parents is a ring given to her by her mother, which she treasures dearly as the sole thing left of her past. Kamichama Karin begins the moment her life takes a turn for the better, when she is approached by Himeka Kuujou, a cute girl who has also lost her parents, and Kazune Kuujou, her cousin who finds girls to be troublesome, both of whom are searching for a goddess. Her mother's memento ring shines brightly in their presence and fills her with its radiance, making her smarter, faster, and capable of granting wishes. It turns out that her ring allows her to become the very goddess they were looking for, and now that she has awakened that power, others will come after her for it… Cute mahou shoujo comedy, but rather generic in other aspects. Humor is not bad, so it's easy to watch even for me, just don't expect much conceptuality out of it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Over Drive オーバードライヴ [Xebec] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Racing Sports Mikoto Shinozaki is a high school student lacking in social awareness. In addition, due to his untidy appearance and low self-esteem, he is an easy target for bullies. Regardless, any misfortune that falls upon Mikoto is partly his own fault—at least, that is what Yuki Fukuzawa, the most popular girl in class, believes. With this assumption, Yuki invites Mikoto to join the school's bicycle club, in hopes he can improve himself and gain new friends. Motivated by feelings he has for Yuki, Mikoto has no reason to decline her offer—except for the fact that he does not know how to ride a bicycle. Despite his lack of even the fundamentals, Mikoto cannot get over the image of himself on a bicycle. Eventually, he succumbs to his curiosity and sneaks into the school grounds at night to practice. This begins Mikoto's journey as he pedals his way through the vast world of cycling, where the scenery of his life changes in ways he never thought possible. The whole world of cycling opens up! Or some kind of similar spokon nonsense. Incredibly irritating beginning.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Shining Tears X Wind シャイニング・ティアーズ・クロス・ウィンド [Studio Deen] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Isekai Action, Adventure, Fantasy Mysterious disappearances are occurring one after the other in Tatsumi Town. Kiriya has a vision from a mysterious beautiful girl with pointy ears. A book talking for an alternative world is found. And Mao searching for her long lost friend, Zero, comes to our world. But what she didn’t expect is to find Souma and Kureha, and even less, to accidentally take them to her world. Now, Souma and Kureha have to find a way to come back. But other forces are playing their part in the darkness and Souma with Kureha will find that going back is harder than they first anticipated. Wow, old isekai RPG adaptation is something that I need to experience. And it sure is cringy. As expected, boring, typical and rather simple, though extensive.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Skull Man The Skull Man スカルマン SKULL MAN [Bones] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Super Power Action, Mystery Otomo City: where freedom and justice have atrophied to the bone; where conspiracy rules the day and death stalks the night... Death in the form of the Skull Man, a literal Grim Reaper whose skeletal grin presages grisly mayhem and murder, even to the monstrous mutants that haunt the city's underworlds! To investigate a bizarre slaying, journalist Minagami Hayato and photographer Kiriko Mamiya must stalk this ultimate predator, through a festering cadaver of a city where the corruption flows in rivers as deep and foul as the sins of the reigning elite, and unearth a secret so shocking that an entire city has been turned into a tomb to contain! In a nightmarish necropolis where nothing is as it seems, vengeance comes in the form of a living Death's-Head! Investigation murders mystery with monsters and tortoise pace getting to the roots and bigger conspiracy. We've seen it countless times already, really dull.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Polyphonica [Ginga Ya] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Music, School Drama, Fantasy, Romance Phoron Tatara's no ordinary musician. As one of the rare Dantists who can summon elder spirits using music called Commandia, his gift is so strong that his spirit partner is none other than the infamous Corticarte Apa Lagranges. Sure, she may look like a young girl in her human form, but you don't get nicknames like "The Crimson Annihilator" and "The Bloody Duchess" for sitting back and watching the daisies grow. Now, at the behest of the Tsuge Divine Music Player Office, this dynamic duet travels the continent of Polyphonica on Phoron's combination motorcycle/organ, following the song of the open road, orchestrating rescues and generally fixing whatever's baroque! Some musicians wait for a muse to hit them, but Phoron makes his work for scale! Music and spirits seems to be a weird combination to put together... and it really is. Defeating monsters with music always feels cringy. Episodes feel disjointed and random.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma: Molders-hen Emma: A Victorian Romance Season Two 英國戀物語エマ ～メルダース編～ [Ajia-do] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Historical Drama, Romance In the faraway village of Haworth, a new chapter in Emma's life has begun. Now employed by the wealthy Molders family, Emma has resolved to put the past behind her. She'll have to adjust to a new house, a charming (but eccentric) new mistress, and a host of fellow servants, some with buried pasts of their own. Meanwhile, back in London, William is doing his best to uphold his father's wishes as the Jones family heir, but try as he might, he can't forget Emma. Yet, whenever he feels at his worst, Eleanor is always there to comfort him with a warm, shy smile. Could the answer to his broken heart be right before his eyes? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. iDOLM@STER Xenoglossia アイドルマスター XENOGLOSSIA（ゼノグラシア [Sunrise] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi  107 years ago, the Moon was destroyed in a massive cataclysm that shattered Earth's former satellite into 81 quintillion tons of orbital debris. However, thanks to super-science, the Earth itself was saved and today no one really thinks much about that century-past disaster. Which is why when teenage Haruka Amami auditions for something called the Idolmaster Project, she THINKS she's trying out to be a singing idol. Instead, Haruka finds herself at a secret school run by the Mondenkind Agency, living with a group of other girls who have also been selected as candidates to pilot an iDOL - an advanced robot specifically designed to intercept falling chunks of moon rock. Except, the people who run the Mondenkind Agency aren't exactly knights in shining armor. And then there's the question of whether the iDOLs are really JUST robots. Because from almost the first moment, Haruka starts to feel emotions resonating from within the iDOL called Imber. What will happen if idols from a game are added to mecha anime by Sunrise? Nothing good, obviously.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo: Youkoso Tsugumi Ryou e この青空に約束を― ～ようこそつぐみ寮へ～ [Artland] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Harem, School Romance One morning, Wataru Hoshino found a sleeping girl—in nothing but her underwear—in his room. When she woke up, she quickly escaped by jumping out of the window, but not without punching Wataru in the face first. This girl, Rinna Sawaki, ends up being a transfer student of Wataru's school, as well as the new roommate of Wataru's dormitory. Wataru lives with four other girls and their school teacher, but due to Temizugawa Heavy Industry's cancellation of their aviation branch—South Sakojima Island's major company—the families involved with the corporation have to be evacuated in one year. As a result of this, the four girls have to leave the island in one year's time. Knowing this, Rinna refuses to become friends with Wataru and the other girls, because of the pain that she might experience as a result of their eventual separation; however, Wataru disagrees with her, and over the course of the year, tries to convince her otherwise. I don't remember any really good stories about school that's going to be closed up, although general level is traditionally higher compared to normal school anime. This title tries to be psychological and cute and crafty in romance situations, but due to harem format and fast switching girls with episodes often does not even succeed at that.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Hitohira ひとひら [XEBEC M2] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Seinen Performing Arts, School Drama, Romance A transfer student Asai Mugi is a painfully shy girl. She is so shy that she can't speak when she becomes seriously nervous. However, for some reason, she is spotted and recruited as a member of the drama club. Story about overcoming oneself relies on characters a lot. Designs are mediocre, humor is generic silly from 2000s, characters are ok, but nothing outstanding. Compared to modern school anime it fares really poorly unless you're ok with SOL from 2000s.   Overall Rating: 6/10   33. Touka Gettan 桃華月憚 [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Drama, Romance, Supernatural  Touka Gettan is set in the land of Kamitsumihara, where traces of magic and legend can still be seen. The land has been under the protection of the Kamiazuma clan since it was founded. The story revolves around Touka Kamiazuma, the main protagonist, and his encounter with a young girl named Momoka Kawakabe who comes to stay with the clan. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will bring an ancient legend to life. Touka Gettan is mystery by design as it mostly runs in reverse order. It's a big mess or tragedies that are not even interesting to investigate.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Oh! Edo Rocket 大江戸ロケット [Madhouse] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Historical Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi In Edo in the mid-1800's, fireworks maker Seikichi Tamaya and his friends struggle to live under the harsh morality laws imposed by the strict city councilor, which ban all luxuries, including fireworks. One day, a strange girl stops by Sekichi's shop with an equally strange request: she wants Sekichi to build a firework that can reach the moon. As you can see, it's mostly nonsense, and not the kind I could like.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Moonlight Mile 1st Season: Lift Off ムーンライトマイル 1stシーズン -Lift off- [Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi  After scaling Mt. Everest, mountain climbing partners Saruwatari Gorou and "Lostman" Jack F. Woodbridge see the ISA Space Station, and each vows to make the trek into outerspace. When Helium 3, a new energy source, is discovered on the moon, NASA forms a new project named "Nexus" to harness that energy for use on earth. This is the story of the two and the paths they take to see their dream become a reality in the quest to harness the next-generation energy source. Space romanticism is something that's alien to me. Training to become astronauts is even worse. Protagonist is some tech genius and some other characters are ok, so feel free to try if you're up to some SOL in space .   Overall Rating: 6/10   36. Kiss Dum: Engage Planet キスダム -ENGAGE planet- [Satelight] (Finished 6/26) Tags: Mecha, Military Sci-Fi In A.D. 2031, humans are enjoying a prosperous existence until strange life forms called Hardians appear. They suddenly begin to multiply and assault the human population. As a countermeasure, mankind organizes the N.I.D.F. to investigate the Hardians and protect themselves. A fighter pilot, Aiba Shu, begins to become involved in the battle against the lifeforms. Rurika Yuno, one of Earth's foremost scientists, investigates the Hardians and hears rumors about the "Book of a Dead Man." What is the secret of this tome, and what relation does it have to the Hardians? Now, the fight for mankind's survival begins. It's an average action with a rather disgusting concept. All those necropowers look repulsive at best. And to even approach the aliens origin we need to survive through very generic protagonist and characters behaving in very typical ways.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Wellber no Monogatari: Sisters of Wellber ウエルベールの物語 Sisters of Wellber [Trans Arts] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy 10 years since the great war, tensions were mounting within the country of Wellber, which was barely capable of keeping peace, as war could commence at any time with its neighboring country, Sangatras. In order to avoid warfare, the king of Wellber, Haidel planned on marrying off his daughter, Princess Rita, to Sangatras` Prince Guernia. However, Rita stabbed her groom to be and ran away. Infuriated, Sangatras` King Ranbahnhof threatens to wage war unless Rita is captured and publicly executed within 14 days. In order to avoid the worst case scenario, Rita decides to head for the neutral country of Greedom. Meanwhile, the woman thief Tina sneaks into Castle Wellber, seeking its treasures, when she happens to witness the stabbing of Guernia by Rita. Whether it be by coincidence or necessity, Tina receives information that the "Wasp Man" she was after is in Greedom, her sworn enemy who took the life of her parents. Tina agrees to become Rita`s bodyguard as they head out to Greedom. Shouldering their fate and destiny, the two meet, leave, and set out on their journey. What awaits them is war or peace, vengeance or death... What will happen if murderer princess, fairy, phantom thief and robot tank come together to prevent war? Answer is this anime ... It's very messy, as you can see, plus there's no substance, so we just travel around and face some adventures. I really don't want to encourage such lousy attempts.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Koutetsu Sangokushi 鋼鉄三国志 [Picture Magic] (Finished 4/25) Tags: Historical Adventure The Imperial Seal has been passed down through the generations since ancient times. It confers great power unto the warriors that it chooses. This is the story of those warriors. It is a time of chaos and of civil war. It is a time when great armies clash in titanic battles and great heroes carve their names in history. It is also a time of death and destruction, when the people of the land live in constant fear of the sword. Onto this stage steps the reluctant Rikuson (Lu Xun), whose family had been the guardians of the Imperial Seal up until it was stolen by Sonsaku. At the behest of his mentor Rikuson offers his services to Sonsaku with the intention of confirming the will of the Imperial Seal. However, assassins strike down Sonsaku and the Imperial Seal is lost. So begins, Rikuson’s journey to recover the Imperial Seal and discover his destiny. Opening looked fishy like boys love, and in reality it turned out to be shounen ai, so, no, thank you, and it should be developing more and more towards the end. And can't say that it's well done compared to most stories taking part in ancient China.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Kaze no Shoujo Emily 風の少女エミリー [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shoujo Historical Drama Based on the Emily of New Moon novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Emily is an orphan who gets sent to live with her relatives on Prince Edward Island, after her father dies. In New Moon she lives with her Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Laura, and Cousin Jimmy, and learns to adapt with the help of her imagination and new friends. It's very much in the field of World Masterpiece Theater in substance, so not my plate, although quality is quite high for such kinds of historical SOL.   Overall Rating: 6/10   40. Saint Beast: Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan セイント・ビースト～光陰叙事詩天使譚～ [Tokyo Kids, Yuhodo] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Fantasy A long time ago, Zeus, the great god, created a three–tier hierarchy of angels, top, middle and lower, although they were supposed to be equal. Also, Zeus appointed 6 angels as Saint Beasts who govern the animals of Earth. They were: Go, the seiyu; Shin, the genbu; Rei, the suzaku; Guy, the byakko; Yuda, the kirin; and Ruka, the hooh. However, Kira, the shooting star, and Maya, the fuga, didn’t attend the selection tests and left for the Earth. The six angels fulfilled their tasks faithfully. However, because of Zeus’s increasingly tyrannical acts, they begin to mistrust him. Another Boys Love Shounen Ai not marked properly, now even with deliberately bishounen designs.   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula 機神大戦 ギガンティック・フォーミュラ [Brain's Base] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi 2035 A.D. The heads of ancient giant idols were excavated all over the world. Using those twelve stones statues, Humanity had barely overcome the threat of extinction called the "Equatorial Winter". But the stone statues had forced Humanity to construct colossal suits of armor as their bodies and demanded that the humans fight each other. Mecha on the better half of the genre, but rather generic EVA clone, with slow development and not particularly interesting characters. Still, characters are good enough to attract someone, and to go on that's needed as background stories and flashbacks take a lot of time.   Overall Rating: 6/10   42. Koutetsushin Jeeg 鋼鉄神ジーグ [Actas] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi  Kotetsushin Jeeg takes place fifty years after the original and features a new cast of characters—primarily the new main character Kenji Kusanagi, a high school student who becomes Kotetsushin Jeeg to fight the sudden reappearance of "Haniwa Genjin" ("Haniwa Phantom Gods", or clay robots) from the Jamada Empire ruled by Queen Himika. Other characters include Tsubaki Tamashiro (grandaughter of Miwa Uzuki); and Kyou Misumi. Other main characters from the original series also appear. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Gegege no Kitarou (2007) ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 (2007) [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/100) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror  The classic tale of Gegege no Kitaro told yet again. The story is the usual in the Gegege no Kitaro series. Kitaro is a boy living in the Gegege Forest/Cemetery (lands where many Yokai roam) with his mostly dead father (who survives only in his eye), Sunakake Babaa, NekoMusume, and Konaki Jiji. One difference between this Kitaro and all of the others that came before him, is that this one has brown hair instead of the standard grayish silver. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Spider Riders: Yomigaeru Taiyou Spider Riders: Resurrected Sun スパイダーライダーズ ～よみがえる太陽～ [Bee Train] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Adventure The battle against the Insectors to save the Inner World rages on, as Hunter Steele and the Spider Riders defend Arachna. With the help of his friends—Igneous, an intelligent young royal officer of Arachna's military; Magma, a foolhardy warrior; and Corona, a kind-hearted girl—crisis has been averted—but not for long. News of the Kingdom of Nuuma being attacked by the Insectors is soon brought to the attention of the Spider Riders, who are reluctant to leave Arachna undefended. But past favors need to be repaid, so they decide to travel across the Inner Ocean to protect the Kingdom of Nuuma. Entrusted with finding four of the Oracle's keys locked away by the leader of the Insectors, Hunter and his friends strive to bring about peace once and for all. Spider Riders: Yomigaeru Taiyou is the epic conclusion to the Spider Riders series. Will the four Oracle Keys find their way to Hunter and the Spider Riders, or will Mantid and the Insectors finally have their wish granted, conquering the Inner World for themselves? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Taichi Senjimon Tai Chi Chasers 太極千字文 [Toei Animation, JM Animation] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  After a strange and devastating attack on his home, a young boy named Rai is shocked to discover he's a secret descendent of the Tigeroids: an ancient race of peaceful beings locked in a struggle with the ruthless and cunning Dragonoids. In a parallel universe called Suhn, the Tigeroids and Dragonoids are battling furiously to recover 500 lost tai chi characters. Whoever retrieves these precious and potent symbols will possess the ultimate power to rule their realm…and destroy their enemies. As Rai hones his innate tai chi skills to fight the Dragonoids, he must find the lost tai chi and battle to become one of the champion Tai Chi Chasers! Another card collection and competition mediocrity.   Overall Rating: 5/10   46. Revbahaf Wang-gug Jaegeon-soelgi ルブバハフ王国再建設記 [Studio Kaab] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Comedy, Drama Three people are hiding out in a cabin by the foothills. Van is the prince from the now-defunct Revbahaf Kingdom, Kona – his hand maiden, and Sian – his philosopher and tutor. Chased by enemies, these three individuals earn the kindness of Aaron, who feeds them at the cabin. By helping out with Aaron’s chores, the former royal family learns to live a peaceful life getting by, rather than plotting a revenge on the neighboring country which invaded them. Together they try to rebuild the Kingdom of Revbahaf. Shoujo that's made as borderline childish and typical despite adult protagonists. There's some ok humor, but it all does not feel serious and going anywhere.   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Tales of Symphonia The Animation: Sylvarant-hen テイルズオブシンフォニア THE ANIMATION シルヴァラント編 [ufotable] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Fantasy Two worlds exist, both unaware of the existance of the other. In order for one world to flourish, the other will have to perish. On the perishing world, a Chosen one is sent on a journey to restore that world's mana by awakening the Spirits and becoming an angel. Colette Brunel, the Chosen of Sylvarant, sets out on her journey accompanied by her best friends Lloyd Irving and Genis Sage. As they travel further they meet more friends and even more enemies, while they learn more and more about the truth behind the World Regeneration. Never liked Tales of Symphonia games due to horrible mechanics. Tried anime within the series several times, but it's inevitably RPG-like stretched, slow and inevitably boring in the end .   Overall Rating: 6/10   48. Ice ICE - アイス - [PPM] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Military Action, Girls Love, Sci-Fi By A.D. 2010, all men have died off quickly due to a dramatic change in the environment and an unknown contaminant. The population decreased to the lowest number ever seen...until only the women were left alive. They live huddled in small corners of a world mostly reclaimed by nature. There are those who accept their inevitable extinction and live a carefree life... There are those who try to continue on the race with the help of science... It is a society of constant conflict over their differences of principles and policies. The story takes place in the center of Tokyo. It is one of the places left for them. The conflict over the specimen of "ICE" and the chance it may provide to save humanity begins. A very strange girls love with a lot of gore and mess.   Overall Rating: 5/10   49. Sekishoku Elegy 赤色エレジー [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Romance  A legendary masterpiece of love comics, SEKISHOKU Elegy brought baby-boomers to tears for its depiction of the heart-rending sorrow of cohabitation symbolizing young Japanese couples in the 1970s. The famous painter Seiichi Hayashi, well known for his work in Koume Chan candies and Sendai's renowned confectionery Hagi No Tsuki, draws the animation as the original writer and also directs it. Hayashi also teams up with folk singer Morio Agata for the first time in more than three decades. Agata enjoyed a huge hit with a song originating from the comic. New renditions give new life to SEKISHOKU Elegy as a work of Ganime. Legendary revolutionary new way of storytelling turned out to be animated manga strips...   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 15: Arashi wo Yobu Utau Ketsu dake Bakudan! 映画 クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ歌うケツだけ爆弾 [ TV Asahi] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Ecchi A slapstick comedy on a bomb uproar, and a touching story about the ties between the Nohara Family and their dog Shiro. A film in the musical style including the scenes with inserted songs. When the Nohara Family enjoy a trip to Okinawa, a strange object like a flying saucer becomes stuck with Shiro's bottom. That is a special bomb dropped by "The Only Buttocks Aliens," and it has the power to destroy the whole earth. The space monitoring center "UNTI" (Unidentified Nature Team Inspection) begins to pick up the bomb, but a female terrorist group "Hinageshi Opera Company" tries to get the bomb and disturbs UNTI's work. Found nothing good in here, so rather mediocre.   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Furusato Japan Japan, Our Homeland ふるさとJAPAN [WAO World] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical  It was the spring of 1956, roughly 10 years after the end of the Pacific War. A new teacher named Rieko Sakamoto is assigned to an elementary school in Kiba, downtown Tokyo. At the same time, Shizu Miyanaga, a transfer student from Kobe, joins the class #4 of the 6th grade. Shizu is a bright, pretty girl who dreams to become a singer. Blessed with both athletic and academic abilities, Shizu quickly becomes the center of everyone's attention in the class. Akira, the son of a joiner and also the class president, starts to develop a special feeling for Shizu... It's just SOL from the poverty life of the 1950s and soothing songs. Can't say it's useful unless you want to cry or something.   Overall Rating: 5/10   52. Shin SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai 新SOS大東京探検隊 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure  "While packing for a move, elementary school student Ryuhei finds his father's old school notebook detailing a search for a treasure in Tokyo's vast network of underground passages. With his little brother tagging along, he and three friends from an online chat room gather and set out on a quest to find the treasure. What they discover instead is an entire underground community composed of assorted eccentrics, including a senile old soldier still performing a World War II-era mission." Drawing is awful and some pseudo-CGI is used or the like. Concept is just bad. Waste of time, as for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   53. Yongshi Warrior 勇士 [Shanghai Animation Film Studio] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts  Based on a Mongolian folklore, the story begins with a young warrior Barter coming to Balin Grassland. He rescues a young girl from a herd of running horses and finds out she is the daughter of the wrestling coach working for the grassland lord. Barter starts learning wrestling while working for the grassland lord as a coolie. Barter falls in love with the girl he saved. However, there is a reason for his coming to the grassland – he is looking for the man who killed his father. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   54. Wu Kong Dazhan Er Lang Shen The Big Fighting Between Wukong and God Erlang 孙悟空大战二郎神  [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Action, Adventure Based on a few early chapters of classic fantasy novel Journey to the West, the story tells how the Monkey King rises against the heaven and has a horrific fight with Er Lang Shen, the nephew of Jade Emperor, who rules the Heaven. The film features puppet live action, about 30% of the movie, with animated 3D backgrounds and characters. It was nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 1st Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  7. kivandopulus
    Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei , Stranger: Mukou Hadan and Piano no Mori all got minor masterpiece scores from me. Don't want to choose, so series wins over movies.   1. Baccano! バッカーノ！ [Brain's Base] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Historical, Organized Crime Action, Comedy, Mystery, Supernatural During the early 1930s in Chicago, the transcontinental train, Flying Pussyfoot, is starting its legendary journey that will leave a trail of blood all over the country. At the same time in New York, the ambitious scientist Szilard and his unwilling aide Ennis are looking for missing bottles of the immortality elixir. In addition, a war between the mafia groups is getting worse. On board the Advena Avis, in 1711, alchemists are about to learn the price of immortality. Based on the award-winning light novels of the same name, Baccano! follows several events that initially seem unrelated, both in time and place, but are part of a much bigger story—one of alchemy, survival, and immortality. Merging these events together are the kindhearted would-be thieves, Isaac and Miria, connecting various people, all of them with their own hidden ambitions and agendas, and creating lifelong bonds and consequences for everyone involved. Baka no? Baka da yo! This is a more suitable title for this eclectic gore filled silly detective mystery anthology mess. It combines so many elements that I detest that I absolutely can't understand its appeal, but I never liked Darker than Black as well.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. School Days スクールデイズ [TNK] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Harem, School Drama, Romance High school student Makoto Itou first notices Kotonoha Katsura at the start of his second semester, freshman year. Immediately, he becomes entranced by her beauty, but his bashfulness doesn't allow him to approach her, even though they ride the same train every day. Instead, he snaps a photo of her in secret and sets it as his cell phone's wallpaper: a charm that, if kept under wraps, would supposedly help you realize your love. However, classmate Sekai Saionji spots the picture, but instead of ratting him out, she offers to help set him up with Kotonoha—going so far as befriending her just for him. Thus, the trio begins a rather impromptu friendship. School Days follows the lives of these three teenagers as they traverse the joys and hardships that come with being a high schooler. In a story alive and brimming with romance and melancholy, the tale of these three students will linger in memory long after the momentous conclusion. Remake.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons ゼロの使い魔 ～双月の騎士～ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Harem, Isekai, School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Revered as heroes for their role in defending Tristain, Louise Françoise and her familiar Saito Hiraga face heavy pressure to continue protecting the Kingdom. With an uneasy peace now established within Albion, the newly crowned Queen Henrietta must deal with a political struggle brewing on the horizon. To make matters worse, a new villain has begun plotting in the shadows against the Crown. With the continuing threats that face the Kingdom, Louise and Saito are compelled to work together once more. No longer "Louise the Zero," the young mage's newfound aptitude for Void magic gives her enough power to wipe out an entire village; however, wielding these abilities comes with its share of challenges. As more conflicts arise, the idea of placing honor above oneself is put into question—regardless of their answer, their only choice is to see it through until the end. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Higurashi: When They Cry – Kai ひぐらしのなく頃に解 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Gore, Psychological Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense In the small village of Hinamizawa, Rika Furude and her friends live together in relative harmony. Beneath this mask of peace, however, lies a hidden darkness, one that Rika understands all too well. In this eternal summer, she has been witness to unspeakable horrors. Every time the clock resets, Rika must try to find the villain behind these senseless deaths before tragedy strikes again. However, trying to decipher a mystery when only half the clues are present proves time and again to be disastrous, and each time she believes that things will change, she inevitably fails. As the annual festival approaches, Rika begins her descent from hope to despair in her struggle to break the chains of fate entangling them all. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei さよなら絶望先生 [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Parody, School Comedy Nozomu Itoshiki is a high school teacher so pessimistic that even the smallest of misfortunes can send him into a pit of raging despair; some of these "catastrophes" even lead to suicide attempts. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a satirical slice-of-life comedy set in the modern day, covering various aspects of Japanese life and culture through Nozomu and his interactions with his students: Kiri Komori, a recluse who refuses to leave the school; Abiru Kobushi, an enigma who frequently arrives to class with severe and mysterious injuries; the hyper-optimistic Kafuuka Fuura, Nozomu's polar opposite; and several other unusual girls, all of whom are just as eccentric as their teacher. I think I watched all seasons, but never grew to like it after initial novelty charm was gone. But still first season can actually be called borderline masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 7/10   6. Mononoke モノノ怪 [Toei Animation] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Adult Cast, Historical, Mythology, Psychological Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural  The "Medicine Seller" is a deadly and mysterious master of the occult who travels across feudal Japan in search of malevolent spirits called "mononoke" to slay. When he locates one of these spirits, he cannot simply kill it; he must first learn its Form, its Truth, and its Reason in order to wield the mighty Exorcism Sword and fight against it. He must begin his strange exorcisms with intense psychological analysis and careful investigative work—an extremely dangerous step, as he must first confront and learn about the mononoke before he even has the means to defeat it. The Medicine Seller's journey leads him to an old-fashioned inn where Shino, a pregnant woman, has finally found a place to rest. The owner has reluctantly placed her in the last vacant room; however, as she settles in, it quickly becomes clear that the room is infested by a lethal band of mononoke, the Zashiki Warashi. With his hunter's intuition, the Medicine Seller begins his investigation to discover the Form, the Truth, and the Reason before the Zashiki Warashi can kill again. Ever wanted to watch a psychedelic aquarelle geisha fantasy with spirits? I did not...   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Devil May Cry デビル メイ クライ [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Gore, Mythology Action, Fantasy Patty Lowell—the lost heir of a prestigious family—is found at an orphanage, and J.D. Morrison brings her to his acquaintance Dante, the owner of a business called "Devil May Cry." Dante takes on so-called "odd jobs," and at Morrison's request, he agrees to become a bodyguard for Patty. Begrudgingly, he sets out to deliver Patty to her family, though he is a bit annoyed with a job that essentially amounts to babysitting. While Dante seems like a lazy good-for-nothing, he is actually a prolific demon hunter, which comes in handy when demons begin pursuing Patty. Soon enough, Dante realizes that there is more to this case than meets the eye, and he makes use of his particular skill set in order to keep Patty safe. Only familiar with the game series by reviews, so anime is a good opportunity to delve into. I'd say anime is done at a minimally accepted level. Fashion, fighting action, coolness, supernatural elements - nothing unexpected.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Zombie-Loan ZOMBIE-LOAN ゾンビローン [XEBEC M2] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Shounen Action, Horror, Supernatural Do you know when you are going to die? Michiru Kita does, as she has the ability to see a "ring of death" on the necks of those around her—and the darker the ring, the closer one is to death. One day, she notices that two boys in her class, Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, have completely black rings. Seeking to warn them of their impending demise, she stumbles onto their secret: they are already dead, but are kept alive due to a contract with Zombie-Loan, a mysterious loan office. Of course, nothing comes without a price, as the boys must hunt down and kill zombies in order to pay off their debt. And once they learn about Michiru's "Shinigami Eyes," they drag her into their crazy world. Despite seemingly fresh concept the essence is quite normal - some comedy, some fanservice, some fighting. Characters are better than average, but plot is not conceptual despite the weak attempts by the end, so watching for plot is a waste of time.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Shigurui Shigurui: Death Frenzy シグルイ [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Gore, Historical, Martial Arts, Psychological, Samurai Action, Drama At the beginning of the Edo Era, when people enjoyed a time of peace, Lord Tokugawa Tadanaga holds a fighting tournament. In the past, matches were fought with wooden swords. This time, real swords will be used. One-armed Fujiki Gennosuke and blind Irako Seigen will fight each other in this match. Both are disciples of Iwamoto Kogan, who is known as Japan's greatest swordsman. Each of them are determined to prove himself the successor of Iwamoto's school. However, there can only be one champion. So begins a story of intertwining fates, conflict, and strange destinies. The first of a kind samurai horror as it gathers all the dirt and gore and prejudice possible to find in that environment. It's so sickening that not a glimpse of enjoyment is possible for me here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Wangan Midnight 湾岸ミッドナイト [A.C.G.T.] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Seinen  Racing Action The story gets its roots from the actual street racing that occurs on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, one stretch of which is known as the "Wangan", literally meaning "bay side" (although it is generally used to refer to the freeway), the longest, straightest road in the entire country. Of course, there's also lots of traffic to contend with, including a fair number of heavy trucks. Because of this, the action is inherently hazardous, and wrecks are common. Blown engines are also a frequent hazard, especially with the extreme-high power engines. One day, Akio Asakura, a third year high school student, is driving his Fairlady Z (Z31) and is challenged by Tatsuya Shima, a doctor, in his black Porsche 964 Turbo (nicknamed the "BlackBird"). With a friend in the passenger seat and two girls in the back, Akio pitifully tries to win, but is defeated. Determined to become faster, he goes to the junkyard to buy parts for his car, when he sees a pristine, unscratched midnight blue Fairlady Z (S30) in the junkyard. Intrigued as to why such a machine is about to be junked, he buys it. He soon finds that the car is unnaturally fast due to a tuned L28 engine, bored and stroked to 3.1 liters combined with twin turbos, which produces 620bhp. He also finds that all of the car's previous owners had unfortunate accidents in it, starting with the first owner's death. The manga follows Akio's various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority. Old racing series adaptation that diligently mimics Initial D as if made specially for its fans.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Kenkou Zenrakei Suiei-bu Umishou ケンコー全裸系水泳部 ウミショー [Artland] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shounen School Comedy, Sports, Ecchi Kaname Okiura, a student of Prefectoral Umineko Shougyou High ("Umishou" for short), joined the school's swimming club in order to learn how to swim, but the club is filled with weirdos, let alone who can teach him swimming. Then, a sunny, happy-go-lucky girl named Amuro Ninagawa who transferred from Okinawa joined the club. Her extraordinary underwater speed and unorthodox swimming style (plus her personal habit of nude swimming—a powerful magnet to teenage boys) surprised every club member, especially Okiura, because she reminds him of a mermaid-like creature he saw only once in his early childhood. It's rare for ecchi to have something besides fanservice, but this title at least tries to play in comedy and romance, so it's better than the bulk of similar ones.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou Dai Ni Maku 東京魔人學園剣風帖　龖（トウ） 第弐幕 [AIC Spirits, BeSTACK] (Finished 1/12 Tags: Martial Arts, School Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery  The battle against Tendou Kodzunu is over, and the Magami Five begin to look forward to their senior graduation, hopefully planning for their adult futures. However, life in Tokyo is not at peace... The underground assassin group known as the Twelve Heavenly Generals of the Martial Fist begin to move against those protecting the city from demons. Normally rumored to kill criminals that the mundane law was unable to bring to justice, the Martial Fist now set their sights on Tatsuma Hiyuu, Kyouichi Houraiji, Aoi Misato, Komaki Sakurai, Yuuya Daigo, and Hisui Kisaragi. What is the purpose of this cruel turn of events? And who ordered the hit? New threats emerge as others awakened to powers unleashed by the Ryumyaku seek out the Magami kids - and old friends now return as enemies. Destinies will collide as the Stars of Fate begin to merge; Yin and Yang will meet. And soon the shadowy figure pulling the strings will reveal himself, in an effort to raze Tokyo to the ground and awaken the Vessel of the Golden Dragon. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Moetan もえたん [Actas] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Comedy, Ecchi Ink Nijihara is a girl in high school. Unfortunately her crush Nao Tezuka barely recognizes her. To make matters worse, she is very short. Now Ink meets a duck and becomes a "mahou shoujo" and teaches Nao english in disguise. Moe... humor is so-so, still amusing enough.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Doujin Work Dojin Work ドージンワーク [Remic] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Otaku Culture Comedy, Slice of Life Doujin Work follows the life of a young girl named Najimi Osana and her exposure into the doujin world. She was first tempted into becoming a doujin artist after seeing how much one of her friends can make at a convention. Najimi loves to draw, though soon learns contrary to what she expected that this new world is anything but easy. As she attends more conventions and meets more people, Najimi eventually manages to find a group of very interesting friends. These friends already have some experience in the field and help her out along the way so that she can someday make a name for herself creating doujinshi. Yonkoma source usually means good comedy and less integrity, and that's true here as well. So it's momentarily forgotten as is made just for some laughs.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Sky Girls スカイガールズ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Mecha, Military Sci-Fi In the near future, Earth is at war with aliens called Worms. The war leaves the population of Earth decimated, with young men the main casualties. The Worms were beaten back but their re-emergence heralds the creation of a mecha unit called the Sonic Divers, piloted by 3 young girls to counter this threat. Four episodes in, and girls are still only learning to control mecha. With this kind of pace, I won't be surprised if they don't master it even by the end of the season.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Nanatsu-iro★Drops ななついろ★ドロップス [Diomedéa] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Romance Tsuwabuki is a normal student, though not very social. One day he meets a new transfer student, named Sumomo Akihime, and another girl, both the only members of the gardening club. Tsuwabuki is forced by a teacher to join this club. But then he bumps into a strange guy with dog ears, switching his drink with they guy's by mistake. Drinking it, he is turned in a stuffed animal. The teacher tells him that the only way to turn back to normal is to find the chosen girl and let her catch the seven stardrops. This girl is Sumomo, that accepts to help him, though she's not allowed to know the animal's true identity. For some reason anime on visual novels always stand out for its super slow pace and lots of beating around the bush. Typical fluffy romance anime with some mahou shoujo tilt, but at least execution is rather good, so would stand out back then, yet by today's standards too cliché.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Code-E  [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi Chinami Ebihara is girl with a strange ability to generate electromagnetic waves when her emotions run high. However, since this "ability" affects anything electrical, it resulted in her having to transfer from school to school when she was younger. As Chinami, now 18 years of age, transfers to a new school, she once again affects the electronic devices in the school, but this time, when another student, Kotaro Kannagi, sees her do this, he becomes obsessed in studying her "TYPE-E" ability. Synopsis is far from exciting, and no miracle happened.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Mushi-Uta ムシウタ [Beat Frog] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Mushi-uta's story takes place in the near future. Ten years before the story's opening, strange insect-like creatures known as "Mushi" began appearing. The Mushi are able to consume peoples' dreams and thoughts in return for supernatural powers. At the end of episode one, protagonist Daisuke "Kakkou" Kusuriya encounters a young girl named Shiika Anmoto. The two, in time, become quite close. However, unbeknownst to Kakkou, Shiika is an escapee from a secret prison known as GARDEN where those posessed by the Mushi, known as the Mushitsuki are held. GARDEN's military force, the Special Environmental Conservation Executive Office, dispatches its finest killer to track down Shiika. However, they are faced with resistance from the Mushibane resistance organisation, led by the secretive "Ladybird." What a bunch of weirdos as characters. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be melodrama genre rather than anything else. Unique and not bad, but definitely not a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Potemayo ぽてまよ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Seinen School Comedy Sunao Moriyama finds a strange but cute creature that he names Potemayo. Potemayo starts following him everywhere, usually riding on top of his head. His discovery becomes the center of attention in his class at school. Soon after, a similar creature appears, and is named Guchuko by one of Sunao's classmates. However, Guchuko doesn't seem to be as good-natured as Potemayo. That's cuteness overdose for me. Can't rate it too high though, as with only situational humor and no conceptual humor it tires me way too fast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Buzzer Beater 2nd Season BUZZER BEATER 第2期 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi, Sports  After being drafted into the Earth Team, a basketball team comprised solely of humans, street-punk-turned-pro Hideyoshi couldn't be more cocky. The team is still up against the Gorons, a physically superior race of aliens who have dominated the game for some time. New challenges and problems stand in their way. Hideyoshi is unhappy with the team and the Gorons have new tricks up their sleeves. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Tetsuko no Tabi 鉄子の旅 [Group TAC] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life The "story" is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it. The kicker though, is that it's completely non-fiction —the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There's a little disclaimer at the front that says "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc. The "travel writer" turns out to be a super train-otaku who has vast knowledge of the train network, but also micro-manages all their trips, planning every detail down to the second. He cares mostly about following the schedule and successfully achieving his planned goals (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). The mangaka doesn't really care about trains; she's cynical, sarcastic, and rather lazy (she mainly just looks forward to the next eki-ben); he's completely gung-ho as long as he's following the schedule, and the inevitable conflicts are pretty entertaining. Throughout, though, it feels real —if you've travelled by train in Japan it will all seem very familiar, not just the scenery, but also the atmosphere and feel— and the artist does a great job of pacing and applying little tweaks to keep it consistently entertaining. In an additional bit of recursiveness, some of the characters who show up in the manga (who of course are real people, who really did show up) do so because they (really) read previous episodes of the manga! In addition of course, you can learn about various out of the way and interesting Japanese train lines and stations; some of them really do look cool. There's always this vague sense of surreality about it however, the trips are all planned by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan) who seems to consider everything as part of a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed. You learn a bit about train-otaku culture too; there's really only the one guy in the story, but train-otaku culture is a sort of constant peripheral presence. A whole series about trains... is this for real... and I thought OVA about train travels was crazy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Iblard Jikan イバラード時間 [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy  Much like looking through a window, Iblard Jikan explores the fantastic and beautiful world of Iblard by panning through art created by Naohisa Inoue. Iblard shows itself to be nothing short of amazing and will wash serenity over your mind. Just succession of mostly still aquarelle pictures. What's even to evaluate here...   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:序 [Khara] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Psychological  Action, Award Winning, Drama, Sci-Fi In a post-apocalyptic world, the last remaining human settlement in Japan is the heavily fortified city of Tokyo-3. Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari is brought to the headquarters of NERV, an underground organization lead by his estranged father, Gendou. He requests that Shinji become a pilot of an "Evangelion," a colossal android built to fight against monstrous and destructive alien creatures known as "Angels" that wreak havoc on the planet and threaten the survival of the remaining human race. Although initially reluctant, Shinji is swayed by the idea of reconciling with his father, and agrees to aid in mankind's perilous endeavor against its alien threat, as the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. Thrust into the midst of a dangerous battlefield, Shinji must find the necessary courage and resolve to face against the Angels' incursions before it is too late. Another retelling, now for first half or so... after a movie that was already a retelling... only holds value for those who never saw the series...   Overall Rating: 4/10   24. Stranger: Mukou Hadan Sword of the Stranger ストレンヂア -無皇刃譚- [Bones] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Samurai Action, Adventure In the Sengoku period of Japan, a young orphan named Kotarou and his dog Tobimaru steal from unsuspecting villagers in order to make ends meet. However, Kotarou is forced to remain on the run when he finds himself being hunted down by assassins sent by China's Ming Dynasty for mysterious reasons not involving his petty crimes. Fortunately, the duo run into Nanashi, a ronin who has taken refuge in a small temple, when Kotarou is attacked and Tobimaru poisoned. Although the samurai saves the helpless pair from their pursuers, he feels that there is no need to help them further; but when offered a gem in exchange for his services as a bodyguard, he reluctantly accepts Kotarou's offer of employment—just until Tobimaru is healed and the two reach their destination. As the three set out on a perilous journey, it soon becomes evident that their path is riddled with danger, as the Ming Dynasty has now sent a terrifying swordsman after them to capture Kotarou and fulfill a certain prophecy. A nice samurai movie almost for family watch if cut limbs don't count. Can't say it's too advanced, but it's entertaining enough for a borderline masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 7/10   25. Piano no Mori The Piano Forest ピアノの森 The Perfect World of Kai [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Music, School Drama Piano no Mori tells the story of Shuuhei Amamiya, a transfer student, and Kai Ichinose, a problem child from the rough areas of town. Upon transferring to Moriwaki Elementary and telling the other kids about his talent for piano, Shuuhei quickly finds himself as the victim of bully Daigaku Kanehira. Daigaku dares Shuuhei to find and play a cursed piano in the forest, which leads him to meet Kai, who claims to be the owner of the piano and the only one who can play it. Intrigued, Shuuhei follows Kai to the hidden piano in the forest and listens to him play a beautiful medley. Earning the respect of not only Shuuhei but school music teacher Sousuke Ajino as well, Kai now finds himself formally learning how to play the piano. Not a work to my taste, but can't deny it's serious and good, so see no reason to deny it a decent score.   Overall Rating: 7/10   26. Genius Party ジーニアスパーティー [Studio 4°C] (Finished 7/7) Tags: Mecha, Music, Psychological Action, Avant Garde, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi A collection of seven individual and unique shorts which range from touching to downright bizarre. With each story different from the last, we encounter monsters going to school, a man who has a hard time dealing with himself, and a child who learns the hard way about the circle of life, as well as many other unique characters and experiences. A journey through the minds of the most prolific artists in Japan, this compilation truly is the setting of a Genius Party. You know how I like nonsense anthology stories...   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Vexille: 2077 Nihon Sakoku Vexille ベクシル 2077日本鎖国 [Oxybot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Action, Sci-Fi  In an alternate 21st century, the robotics industry undergoes a period of rapid advancement worldwide. By the year 2050, Japan has firmly established itself as the leader in robotic technology and manufacture with Daiwa Heavy Industries. As the technology evolves to include robotic enhancements to the human body, the blurring of the line between man and machine triggers a sudden shift in world opinion. In response, the U.N. passes a unilateral ban of further research and development on robotics in 2067. Japan fiercely objects to this ban, but is unable to prevent its passage. In protest, Japan withdrew from international politics and chose to pursue a policy of high-tech national isolation. While only trade continues, Japan disappears from the world scene. Ten years later, a series of bizarre incidents lead the American technology police agency SWORD to believe that Japan has concealed extensive development of banned technologies through the use of the RACE network. SWORD dispatches a unit of special agents to infiltrate Japan and gather intelligence on the country. Vexille, a veteran agent among the group, uncovers the horrifying truth behind the ten years of isolation. 3D sometimes looks nice here, but more often ugly. The most important element is story, and it's ruined here failing to come out of dualism limitations and becoming something decent.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi Summer Days with Coo 河童のクゥと夏休み [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Adventure, Award Winning, Fantasy Kouichi Uehara is a fourth grade student living in the suburb of Tokyo. One day, he picks up a large stone which turns out to be a fossil of a baby "Kappa" who has been sleeping underground for the past 300 years, and names it "Coo." They become good friends and Coo starts living with Kouichi's family. However, Coo has a hard time adjusting to life among humans and misses his kind. What a cringy and rather unappealing kappa story, also super long.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Dai-chan, Daisuki. 大ちゃん、だいすき。 [Tama Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Drama, Slice of Life Main character in this film, Mai, has a handicapped brother, who is totally deaf, called Dai-Chan. He is like a younger brother for Mai yet he is actually her older brother because Dai-Chan always asks Mai to hold him up with smiling all over. One day, an elementary school Mai goes to and a handicapped school Dai-Chan goes to start to communicate each other. And then, Mai's class mates started to make fun of Mai and draw a funny portrait of Dai-Chan on black board in the class. Mai gets shocked and hurt at that mischief. And moreover, their mother gets sickness at the same time. That's why Dai-Chan should enter in an orphanage for handicapped children; however, Mai really wants to take care of him by herself, so she tries to stop it. This story is written about a love of family, close bond, and relationship between human and human. We definitely have a common warm heart and a moment we have to use it with honest feeling. This film could remind us some important things we should never forget about our life. I don't like works about disabled people, can't do anything about it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Bogeul Bogeul Bomulseon 보글보글 보물선 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  A bunch of dreamers and treasure hunters go hunting for a legendary dragon treasure. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Tetsu no Ko Kanahiru 鉄の子カナヒル [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Fantasy  There came a time when iron vanished from Okinawa. A Cana baby called Kanahiru arrived at the shores of Okinawa. He was from a far away land called Iron Hills. A place far beyond the seas. He was baffled by the deformity of Gana Hill, even teased the citizens, but he decided to stay. Years later ferocious demons capture Gana Hill and take Kanahiru to the demon island. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   32. Miyori no Mori Miyori's Forest ミヨリの森 [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Slice of Life  After being deserted by her parents, 11-year-old Miyori shuts her heart from the rest of the world and denies any form of human relationships. She was entrusted in the care of her grandmother who lives near a forest. Miyori will take a walk in the forest where she felt a strong sense of loneliness in the forest which seems to have nothing. However, she soon encounters unbelievable things and gradually realizes that the forest is more than what it seems... A rather childish story, though not as much as my neighbor Totoro. Essence is lacking and execution is average, so need to at least like all this youkai stuff.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  8. kivandopulus
    Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor , Minami-ke and Genshiken 2 are all considered minor masterpieces by me, but two of them had some representation earlier, so only Minami-ke is fresh new.    1. Clannad [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 23/23) Tags: School Drama, Romance, Supernatural  Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent who finds life dull and believes he'll never amount to anything. Along with his friend Youhei Sunohara, he skips school and plans to waste his high school days away. One day while walking to school, Tomoya passes a young girl muttering quietly to herself. Without warning she exclaims "Anpan!" (a popular Japanese food) which catches Tomoya's attention. He soon discovers the girl's name is Nagisa Furukawa and that she exclaims things she likes in order to motivate herself. Nagisa claims they are now friends, but Tomoya walks away passing the encounter off as nothing. However, Tomoya finds he is noticing Nagisa more and more around school. Eventually he concedes and befriends her. Tomoya learns Nagisa has been held back a year due to a severe illness and that her dream is to revive the school's drama club. Claiming he has nothing better to do, he decides to help her achieve this goal along with the help of four other girls. As Tomoya spends more time with the girls, he learns more about them and their problems. As he attempts to help each girl overcome her respective obstacle, he begins to realize life isn't as dull as he once thought. First season is actually decent though nothing exceptional, but the problem is that afterwards comes the second season that is absolutely depressing, so I'd recommend to skip Clannad in entirety.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor 逆境無頼カイジ Ultimate Survivor [Suspense] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, High Stakes Game, Psychological, Strategy Game After one of his coworkers fails to repay a debt, apathetic bum Kaiji Itou is pressured by loan sharks to settle the large sum of cash. Since Kaiji has little money and no future prospects of his own, he is unable to return what his colleague borrowed. Faced with massive financial burdens, Kaiji is given an offer to board the illustrious Espoir—it is said that "one night aboard the ship, and all of your debts will be paid." What seems like a simple night of gambling quickly turns into a game of strategy and betrayal. With the losers of the tournament being subjected to a backbreaking life of indebted servitude, Kaiji must choose his actions—and allies—carefully. However, this is only the beginning of a series of gambles that will wager Kaiji's life, testing the full extent of his wits and will to survive. I could not enjoy Akagi, but Kaiji first season was an absolutely shocking experience when I first watched it. But as concept gets crystalized, impression dulls a bit during such a long runtime, so can't give it super high scores as I don't have incentive to watch any its iterations.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. Shakugan no Shana II (Second) Shakugan no Shana: Season II 灼眼のシャナII –Second– [J.C.Staff] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Denizens from the Crimson Realm continue to infiltrate Misaki City and steal life energy from humans. To combat this threat, Flame Hazes are tasked with saving humans from losing their existences. But while it is a Flame Haze's duty to protect humans, Shana—the "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter"—seems to be focusing her attention on one human in particular: Yuuji Sakai, a teenage boy who was unwittingly dragged into the fight between Crimson Denizens and Flame Hazes. Since her first encounter with Yuuji, Shana has started to see him as more than just a friend. In fact, Yuuji wonders if Shana might have revealed her feelings to him once before, but it is difficult for him to confirm due to her hot-and-cold personality. Nonetheless, their days pass like any other, until a new transfer student arrives at their high school—one who bears a striking resemblance to an old enemy. Yuuji and Shana have no time to dance around their feelings for each other; while their adversaries from the Bal Masqué organization plan their next attack, the two must keep their guard up as they explore the origin behind the coveted magical object within Yuuji's body, the "Midnight Lost Child." Since I rated first season as 7, just following my regulations to take away a score point for sequels of masterpieces.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. ef: A Tale of Memories. ef - a tale of memories.  [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Drama, Mystery, Romance  On Christmas Eve, Hiro Hirono runs into Miyako Miyamura, a frivolous girl who "borrows" his bicycle in order to chase down a purse thief. After Hiro finds his bicycle wrecked and Miyako unconscious, the two unexpectedly spend their Christmas Eve together, and when they discover they go to the same high school, their accidental relationship develops even further. This sparks the jealousy of Hiro's childhood friend Kei Shindou, whose pure approach to life catches the eye of Kyosuke Tsutsumi, a womanizing photographer searching for the perfect shot. Elsewhere, Renji Asou, a boy who dreams of being a girl's knight in shining armor, has a chance encounter with Kei's twin sister—the overly shy Chihiro Shindou, who spends her time reading alone—at an abandoned train station. The two quickly become friends and eventually decide to write a novel together. However, when Renji discovers Chihiro's secret, a disability that causes her to have an eternally ephemeral memory, his childish ideals will be put to the test. Guided by two mysterious adults, these youths' relationships intertwine in a heart-rending tale of love, rejection, acceptance, and memories. I remember starting it several times and inevitably falling asleep, so no idea if I ever finished it before. Now I realize that it's just a very hysterical girl with daily repeating amnesia harassing a masochistic boy. This is boring, constantly repeating, unsubstantial and just bad.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 Mobile Suit Gundam 00 機動戦士ガンダム00 [Sunrise] (Finished 4/25) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the distant future, mankind's dependence on fossil fuels will lead to their complete depletion, an energy crisis unlike anything the world witnessed. Out of retaliation and fear, humanity began focusing at an alternative source of energy: solar power. Different nations have united together to form three major factions—the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations, the Advanced European Union, and the Human Reform League. Each of these sectors has access to a solar power generator, which gives them limitless energy. As a result, countries that were once dependent on the sale of fossil fuels are now plunged in poverty, leading to years of warfare and internal strife over the control of solar energy. Amid this chaos, an unknown paramilitary organization appeared identifying themselves as "Celestial Being," aspire to end all warfare through armed intervention by using mysterious and technologically advanced Mobile Suits known as Gundams. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows the story of Celestial Being's Gundam Meisters Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde. These four dive into the devastating battle between the three superpowers to accomplish their goal of changing the world. I come to every Gundam open-minded, and after Code Geass expected borrowing its elements, and it actually happened as new super organization attacks both parties with new Gundam models. I praise this iteration for actually being watchable though inheriting many of the flaws from Code Geass, but I did not call even that a masterpiece, and Gundam 00 is of a lower general quality level. The best entry point to the franchise still as previous seasons were strangely mechanical.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Shugo Chara! しゅごキャラ！ [Satelight] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Comedy Amu Hinamori is a shy girl who struggles to make friends in part due to the rumors spread around school about her "cool and spicy" personality. Wishing that she could show everyone her "would-be" self, Amu wakes up to the presence of three colorful and ornately decorated eggs in her bed. Each of these "Hearts Eggs" houses a "Guardian Character"—manifestations of someone's would-be self and their dreams. With the aid of Ran, Miki, and Su, Amu now finds herself able to express who she truly is. However, things do not always pan out in her favor. The sudden appearance of Amu's Guardian Characters prompts the Seiyo Elementary Guardians, a student council-like group with each member possessing their own Guardian Character, to take notice of her. As someone who has multiple Characters, Amu is roped into being the Guardians' "Joker," tasked with helping them find X Eggs—corrupted versions of one's Hearts Egg. As she becomes entangled in the Guardians' quest, Amu begins to uncover more about these mysterious Characters, the X Eggs, and the organization that seems to be at the center of it all. A pretty normal and typical mahou shoujo at school, maybe with better humor than usual.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Myself; Yourself マイセルフ; ユアセルフ [Doga Kobo] (Finished 3/13) Tags: School Drama, Romance In the peaceful little town of Sakuranomori, a group of young friends are about to bid farewell to one of their own. Due to his parents’ business plans, Sana Hidaka has to move away from his quiet childhood home to the boisterous city of Tokyo. Though it pains him, he must say goodbye to his precious friends—the kind-hearted Aoi Oribe, the spunky Wakatsuki twins, Shuri and Shuusuke, and the cheerful and upbeat Nanaka Yatsushiro. But even though he is reluctant to leave them behind, he believes that no matter how far apart they are, they will always cherish the memories of their friendship. Five years later, Sana, now a 16-year-old high school student, returns to his hometown with the hope of restoring his old life. However, he quickly realizes that although his town may not have changed drastically, the friends he left behind are not who they used to be. Unsettling shadows loom over Sakuranomori as his friends hold new secrets and bear burdens that threaten the bonds they once shared. Older PS2 visual novels are kings of banality and some distorted cuteness. It's painful to watch...   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Minami-ke みなみけ [Daume] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen CGDCT, School Comedy, Slice of Life The Minami residence is home to three sisters: the strict and diligent eldest sister Haruka; air-headed and lively Kana; and the youngest, Chiaki, whose sharp tongue spares no one. Living without adult supervision, the sisters share the workload of cooking and laundry, as well as the occasional romantic adventure. From combating chronic laziness to hanging out with friends, there is never a boring day in the Minami household. Loving Minami-ke for the unique sense of coziness. Only going to highlight first season, though, as further seasons are very similar.   Overall Rating: 7/10   9. Shinreigari Ghost Hound 神霊狩 GHOST HOUND [Production I.G] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Psychological Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense Strange things are happening around the town of Suiten. The daughter of a priest begins to see strange visions, spirits have started to roam the mountains, and Tarou Komori is having unsettling dreams. Due to the trauma of being kidnapped 11 years ago, he has repressed most of the memories that could shed light on what really happened all those years ago. But they return in his sleep, combined with encounters beyond the realm of dreams. As the supernatural and psychological collide, three children struggle to face their demons and repair the breach between the spiritual and corporeal worlds. Suspense makes everything worse. What I see is super slow development and loads of anti-science psychotherapy techniques. Information dumping may be nice at times, but it is dull more often. I do not enjoy the process and not interested in mystery, so see no point continuing.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Kodomo no Jikan (TV) こどものじかん [Diomedéa] (Finished 12/12) Tags: School Comedy, Drama, Ecchi 3rd grade teacher Aoki Daisuke didn't expect the first class he ever taught to be one of the toughest obstacles of his life. After getting off on the wrong foot with the entire class, a moment of kind-heartedness instantly convinces one of his students, Rin Kokonoe, to make the ill-fated Aoki-sensei her lover. But what exactly are Rin's intentions for wanting to actively seduce Aoki-sensei, and will Aoki-sensei be able to help her to deal with them? A very weird lolicon series. Watched it in the past and not going to repeat that experience. And not going to recommend either...   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun Good Luck! Ninomiya-kun ご愁傷さま二ノ宮くん [AIC Spirits] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Harem Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi  Shungo Ninomiya is just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill high school student who lives at home with his older sister Ryoko—at least when she's not away doing her job as a mercenary. However, Shungo's life ceases to be normal the moment a cute girl named Mayu Tsukimura descends into the middle of his school's campus in a military-grade helicopter. It turns out Ryoko sent this girl, along with her older brother Mikihiro, to live at the Ninomiya household. But the newly-arrived siblings are a little special: Mayu is, in fact, a succubus and her brother, an incubus! And as if the circumstances are not problematic enough, Mayu is crippled with androphobia—the fear of men—and it's up to Shungo to help her overcome this at the behest of his sister. Ryoko plans to force Mayu to be closer to Shungo, and to do this, she’ll employ some questionable methods such as having them share the same bed and even take baths together. The situation further complicates when student council president Reika Houjou arrives as the new maid of the Ninomiya family, and she will stop at nothing to thwart Shungo and Mayu’s sexually-geared training. With the sudden arrival of all these oddities, Shungo's ordinary life is about to be thrown into utter turmoil. Just a variation of ecchi about starting to live together with a girl, can't say it's special or anything.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. KimiKiss Pure Rouge KimiKiss: Pure Rouge キミキス pure rouge [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/24) Tags: School Drama, Romance  Kouichi Sanada and Kazuki Aihara's childhood friend Mao Mizusawa has returned after living in France for a couple of years. Kouichi is surprised to learn that, since her parents are remaining overseas for the time being, his mother has agreed to let Mao stay with them. The three friends help each other deal with the ups and downs of high school romance. PS dating SIMs are usually very banal. Quality here is higher than average, but that's it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Bamboo Blade バンブーブレード  [AIC ASTA] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Seinen  Combat Sports, School Comedy, Sports Kojirou is the kendo instructor for Muroe High School and he's totally broke. But then an unexpected chance is given to him: his team must win against his senpai's team and the prize is: free meals for a whole year! Now, the only problem left... where to find girls skilled enough and willing to join the kendo team? Good kendo comedy with cheerful cast. But the fact that I started it at least three times and inevitably dropped says that I'm not enjoying this.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Genshiken 2 げんしけん2 [Arms] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Parody Comedy, Slice of Life The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, otherwise known as Genshiken, is now under the charge of a more confident Sasahara. Things have changed in between semesters, and the otaku club now has a new otaku-hating member named Ogiue. Sasahara's initial goal of starting a doujin circle and selling those fan-made magazines at the next Comic Festival becomes a reality, but reality is a cruel master... who apparently crossplays. Afterward, the club is abuzz with talk about Tanaka and Ohno's relationship, which takes a hesitant step forward. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 7/10   15. Dragonaut: The Resonance Dragonaut - The Resonance ドラゴノーツ-ザ・レソナンス- [Gonzo] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi  Twenty years prior to the story's beginning, an asteroid headed for Earth destroys Pluto. Due to Pluto's destruction, the asteroid, which is dubbed Thanatos, becomes temporarily stagnant. Now, in order to avoid Earth's impending destruction, the International Solarsystem Development Agency (ISDA) works on the "D-Project", and creates the "Dragonaut" after finding a dragon egg under the ocean. This weapon's primary purpose is to destroy the asteroid when the time comes. However, they soon find out that the asteroid is not their only threat, as powerful dragon-like creatures, which are bent on destruction, appear on Earth. After witnessing a murder by one of the creatures, Jin Kamishina, a lonely 18-year-old boy who lost his family in a shuttle accident two years ago, gets involved in the mysteries of the dragons and becomes the chosen pilot of the Dragonaut. Helping him on his journey is Toa, a mysterious girl who saves him from falling to his death after the creature attacks him. As they get deeper into the mysteries of the dragons, they encounter new friends and enemies, and also begin to develop a closer relationship. Bland characters and execution destroy all the potential it had.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Moyashimon もやしもん [Telecom Animation Film, Shirogumi] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Seinen Anthropomorphic, School Comedy, Gourmet, Supernatural One could say that freshman college student Tadayasu Sawaki has a wide range of vision. He has a peculiar ability that allows him to see microorganisms with the naked eye. Sawaki can see all sorts of microbes, from the fungi that cause athlete's foot to the yeast used to make alcohol, with him perceiving his little friends as cute chibi creatures. Attending an agricultural university, his talent piques the interest of numerous professors, including Professor Itsuki, who specializes in fermentation. Sawaki starts school indifferent toward his ability, choosing an agricultural school in Tokyo. However, with the help of the eccentric community around him, he slowly learns to appreciate these visible microbes and his talent. The whimsical cast of professors and classmates attending the university almost makes Sawaki seem normal despite his ability. First bacteriological weapon anime. There's no story and humor is weird which most of the times means poor. Characters aren't outstanding either, so waste of time if you don't like this humor.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro Neuro: Supernatural Detective 魔人探偵 脳噛ネウロ [Madhouse] (Finished 2/25) Tags: Shounen Detective, Mythology  Yako Katsuragi is an acclaimed high school detective, who, despite her young age, has solved many cases. In fact, there seems to be no case that she can't solve, or any culprit that escapes justice. But within the walls of her detective agency lies the secret to her prolific crime-solving skills: the cases are actually solved by her assistant, Neuro Nougami. However, to call Neuro an ordinary man would be incorrect. In reality, he is a demon, who came to the human world in search of the ultimate mystery, having already solved every mystery in the demon world. With Yako as his proxy, he feasts on the negative energy released by humans when they commit crimes. Thus, he promises to help Yako solve the mystery of her father's death. But to do so, he must avoid drawing too much attention to himself, which is why Yako plays the role of the detective. Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro follows this unlikely duo as they solve case after case to satisfy Neuro's ravenous appetite and Yako's desperate search for the truth of her father's death. My hate for detectives is strong, for supernatural shounen ones even stronger.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Rental Magica レンタルマギカ [Zexcs] (Finished 6/24) Tags: Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural  Due to his father's disappearance, Itsuki Iba has to take over the family business: a magician dispatch service. Their family employs countless magicians and other supernatural beings in order to send them out to help those who need magical assistance. As a leader, Itsuki now has to be tough, commanding, and reliable, but there's one problem, he's a coward. Also, in order to run a successful business, he must connect with his employees, which is more difficult than it seems due to his personality. But not only does he have to deal with his own employees, he also has to deal with those who threaten the family business. Typical superpower shounen and quite cringy at that. Lots of empty characters only confirm this idea.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. D.C.II: Da Capo II D.C.II ～ダ・カーポII～ [feel.] (Finished 3/13) Tags: School Drama, Romance, Ecchi The undying Sakura Trees return. Based on a PS2 sequel of the original DaCapo game, the story once again takes place on Hatsunejima, but is set 53 years after the events of D.C. and D.C.S.S.. Although some characters will probably look a bit familiar to the initiated eye, the cast is a new one. The new main protagonist is Yoshiyuki Sakurai, who lives next door to the Asakura sisters Yume and Otome, who are the granddaughters of Junichi and Nemu from the first season. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Night Wizard ナイトウィザード [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Night Wizard. A term given to those whose mission is to protect the world from impending darkness. Renji Hiiragi is one such Night Wizard, who is constantly called on missions, even though all he wants is to be able to go to school and graduate. However, his latest order was to protect Elis Shiho, who is a new transfer student at his academy. Being dragged into the Astronomy Club by Renji's childhood friend, Kureha Akabane on her first day at school, Elis soon realises that she too, has the power to become a Night Wizard, after possessing one of seven secret Jewels, the Jewel of Kindness. Along with Renji and Kureha, Elis now begins her fight and her new life as a Night Wizard. As most anime based on some game, generic typical boring action with weak cast.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Shion no Ou The Flowers of Hard Blood しおんの王 - The Flowers of Hard Blood [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Strategy Game Drama, Mystery, Suspense  Defying the odds, middle school student Shion Yasuoka is becoming a rising star of the professional shogi world. Despite losing her family at a young age and being unable to speak due to the trauma, in her loving adoptive family and at the shogi association, she has found the necessary emotional support to move on with her life and very demanding career. Her talent attracts the attention of Satoru Hani, a successful businessman and brother of the current "Meijin"—the title given to the defending champion of Japan's most prestigious shogi tournament. He decides to organize a tournament open to both men and women, including professional and amateur players, and urges Shion to participate in the competition. However, Satoru seems to know a lot about Shion's troubled past, and his actions bring suspicion from Shion's friend Ayumi Saitou and the police—who are still investigating the death of Shion's loved ones. As the end of Satoru's tournament approaches, Shion starts remembering events related to the night when she lost everything and will have to show her mental fortitude to defeat her opponents and foil the plans of the culprits who ruined her life. Shogi looks same gibberish as mahjong to me as I don't understand and don't want to understand rules and even figures. It resembles Hikaru no Go a lot for tension buildup and same ridiculous game turning moves, but it's darker and more twisted, even more advanced and realistic now, still a long way to go till Sangatsu no Lion. Totally watchable and recommended to try, but I personally don't find it interesting and do not intend to finish it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Blue Drop: Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku Blue Drop BLUE DROP ～天使達の戯曲～ [BeSTACK, Asahi Production] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Drama, Girls Love, Sci-Fi  Five years ago, something horrifying happened on Kamioki Island. Something so nightmarish that it stripped all memory from Mari Wakatake's mind even as it left every other human on the island dead in its wake! Now enrolled against her will at an isolated girl's academy, Mari is unaware that hidden eyes are watching her, waiting for her memory to return. Buried in her psyche is the most terrifying secret of all: while Mari was the only human who lived, she may not have been the only survivor! As something in a female skin invades Kaihou Academy, Mari's only hope may lie in a strange girl to whom she is inexplicably drawn yet cannot trust. Serious girls love and protagonist is a rebelling against all the world girl with amnesia, so it's drama pretty much out of nowhere... definitely not to my taste.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Sketchbook: Full Color's Sketchbook ~full color's~ スケッチブック ～full color's～ [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 13/13) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei, Visual Arts Comedy, Slice of Life To Sora Kajiwara, the world is full of wonderful and adorable things she wants to draw—cats being a popular object of her affection. Even though there are some things that can't be captured with a pencil and paper, she still brings her sketchbook wherever she goes. Her love of drawing eventually leads her to join her school's art club, despite her shy and childish personality. Just like herself, all of Sora's fellow art club members have their own vivid imagination and personality to match. Through her interactions with the rest of the club, Sora begins to break out of her shell and see more of the world around her, taking every opportunity to sketch whatever is on her mind or in her heart. A slow relaxed SOL with sketchbook true in both meanings - as having to do with arts club and as anthology of sketches. And it's not great.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Juushin Enbu: Hero Tales Hero Tales 獣神演武 - HERO TALES - [Studio Flag] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Shounen Action, Fantasy  For citizens of the Ken Empire, justice is a myth. Lord Keiro, the deranged Shogun of the Imperial Army, blazes a trail of terror across the countryside in search of the sacred sword that will make him a god. Standing in his way is Taito, an omnipotent star reborn in human form—a young hero who vows to use his celestial strength to avenge those slaughtered by the villainous Shogun. Taito's mystical powers steer him toward a violent showdown with Keiro, and if used recklessly, his newfound abilities could shred the very fabric of his being. To master the art of control and become a heroic martial artist, Taito must seek the guidance of others like him: the seven star-born warriors with the strength to shatter a corrupt empire. The good thing is that this time Chinese mythology historical story is not nauseating. But that's among the very few positive sides here as it's generic and not particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Prism Ark プリズム・アーク [Front Line] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy  The Sablum Empire has been attempting to take over the kingdom of Windland for many years, and are now plotting with the mercenaries Sister Hell and Darkness Knight to start a new offensive using powerful magical beings called Angels. Hyaweh, a carefree yet talented swordsman, and Priecia, who just might be the lost princess of Windland, are enrolled at the Knight's Academy in Windland to hone their skill at swords and sorcery. There they meet many friends and allies who can help them protect their homeland from the impending invasion. Original game was RPG, so filler fighting action is inevitable here, some fanservice is also expected while some girls love and baka humor were not. It's full of cliché from early 2000s, and there's even own Azumanga sensei. Nonsense cuteness-focused comedy is hardly what I can enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Mokke もっけ [Madhouse, Tezuka Productions] (Finished 6/24) Tags: Iyashikei Mystery, Slice of Life, Supernatural This is a story about two sisters: Shizuru, is a high school student who is able to see ghosts while her younger sister, Mizuki, is haunted by these apparitions. Frustrated by their abilities, their parents decided to entrust the sisters into the care of their grandparents who live in the countryside. As they adapt to life in the countryside, Shizuru and Mizuki begin to learn about the importance of coexisting nature with these apparitions. Each episode is a story about different iyashikey happening around two sisters percepting spirits, and I don't like both episodic format and iyashikey and village SOL with quite normal characters.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Suteki Tantei Labyrinth Fantastic Detective Labyrinth 素敵探偵☆ラビリンス [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Shounen Mystery, Sci-Fi  In a forgotten town known as the old capital of Tokyo, strange and mysterious crimes are progressively occuring. These supernatural occurances are beyond comprehension and bring fear and terror to the people. Only one person is not intimidated by the evil underlying these occurances and is willing to challenge them: Hyuga Mayuki, a young boy detective who holds a special insight power that allows him to uncover the real truth behind these occurances. Mysterious crimes... detective labyrinth... genius shounen... not interested.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Taiho Shichau zo: Full Throttle You're Under Arrest: Full Throttle 逮捕しちゃうぞ フルスロットル [Studio Deen] (Finished 4/23) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Detective, Workplace Action, Comedy Miyuki Kobayakawa, fresh from forensics training in the United States and Natsumi Tsujimoto, from completing Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) ranger training return in the long-awaited 3rd season of the highly popular series. This time, the duo rejoins active duty at Bokuto Police Department, fighting against crime using their wits and brawn, plus having some misadventures along the way. Sequel. More or less the same direction.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe Megaman Star Force Tribe 流星のロックマン トライブ [Xebec] (Finished 1/21) Tags: Adventure  The second series is to follow the events of the second video game, focusing on the lost continent of Mu. The ancient civilization vanished ages ago, and a few of its remnants still exist as myths and legends called UMAs (unidentified lifeforms). The UMAs begin merging with humans in order to search for the treasures of Mu, the powerful ooparts, which will give them the power to revive Mu. After Subaru and War-Rock encounter several unusual enemies, they meet a professor named Doctor Orihime who sends them on a quest to find the ooparts and stop the UMAs. Using the ooparts, Rockman is able to take new forms, including Thunder Berserk, Fire Dinosaur, and Green Shinobi. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Moonlight Mile 2nd Season: Touch Down ムーンライトマイル 2ndシーズン -Touch down- [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/14) Tags: Space Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi  The second season of Moonlight Mile. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Tensai? Dr. Hamax 天才？Dr.ハマックス [Trans Arts] (Finished 0/12) Tags: Comedy - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   32. Tokyo Marble Chocolate 東京マーブルチョコレート [Production I.G] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Romance  Serious and generous, but a bit shy, Yuudai has been unsuccessful with the opposite gender. Chizuru is an energetic and cheerful girl, but when it comes to boyfriends, she's been unlucky and clumsy, and never had a steady relationship. This is the first Christmas the couple spends together. Chizuru loves animals and Yuudai plans to give her a rabbit in a box, but it turns out to be... a mini donkey?! As the funny creature escapes, Chizuru goes after it, and Yuudai loses sight of them both! The time that should have been spent together... The important feeling that should have been revealed... Small, but precious things that tend to be buried in every day life. What answer will the two youngsters find while separated from each other? Yuudai and Chizuru—their feelings and the time they spent far from each other are delicately unfolded in this double-sided pure love story told from two different perspectives! A short simple romance story can't surpass decent score.   Overall Rating: 6/10   33. Strait Jacket ストレイト・ジャケット [feel.] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  It is the world where magic and science coexist. Rayotte Steinberg, a lone wolf "tactical sorcerist", fights against monsters. They used to be human beings, but they had overused forbidden power, "magic", to turn into monsters. What he wears is "mold", the straight jacket that keeps him being a human. What he holds on his hand is "staff", a magical wand that explodes everything. If he casts magic, he moves one step to be a monster. If he doesn't, he will be killed. Among the harsh battles, he will face a sin he had committed in the past. A short fighting monsters action lacking actual story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   34. Koharu Biyori Indian Summer こはるびより [Daume] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi  Set in a near future, a time where robots are common workers for their owners. Takaya Murase has just purchased a maid robot from a robotic doll distributor, MaidWorks. Ready to live a normal cleaning, cooking, and serving life to her owner, Yui is purchased, by Takaya but he has other plans for her...like dressing her up in dress-costumes of his fantasies and more. A collection of ecchi maid android sketches.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Yawaraka Sangokushi Tsukisase!! Ryofuko-chan やわらか三国志 突き刺せ!! 呂布子ちゃん  [Chaos Project] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Comedy, Ecchi  Ryofu Housen (Lu Bu) is a powerful general from the Three Kingdoms; alongside Chinkyuu (Chen Gong), Ryofu suddenly finds himself falling to Earth, and landing... in the body of an elementary school student?! With their new lives as flat-chested, women-loving children, Ryofu and Chinkyuu follow their hunger and their desire to get back to their old lives somehow; but it will be difficult, given the variety of obstacles in their way including old enemies, epic monster battles and the most important thing of all, trying to get their hands on Eri-sensei's mammoth F-cup breasts! Weird and not really good echi comedy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Mahou Shoujo-tai Arusu the Adventure Tweeny Witches the Adventures 魔法少女隊アルス the Adventure [Studio 4°C] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Isekai Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  "Tweeny Witches" The Adventure created by Studio 4C in collaboration with "Garo" creator Keita Amemiya. Includes the Alice chapters "Sakana ni Natta Maho Shojotai" and "Fuin Sareta Kokoro," Sheila chapters "Yosei Hakusho" and "Kori no Majo to Hien no Taki," and Eva chapters "Dragon House no Himitsu" and "Shippu Doto no Maho Shojotai" on three DVDs. Remake.   Overall Rating: 6/10   37. Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar Blow the Flute Jaguar! ピューと吹く！ジャガー [Kaeruotoko Shokai] (Finished 0/3) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Music Comedy Based on the gag manga written and illustrated by Usuta Kyousuke that ran in Shuukan Shounen Jump from 2000 to 2010. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   38. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 1: Fukan Fuukei The Garden of Sinners Chapter 1: Overlooking View 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第一章『俯瞰風景』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense  A series of eerily similar suicides occupy newspaper headlines in late '90s Japan. Amidst all the bizarre resemblances, there is one detail that stands out above the rest: the victims have all taken their lives by leaping from the Fujou building, a run-down abandoned structure rising high above the city. Shiki Ryougi, a cold-hearted girl living in an empty apartment, suspects that these sinister events have a supernatural cause. Possessing a mystical power herself, Shiki works to investigate the incidents alongside Touko Aozaki, a doll-making detective specializing in magic, and her friend Mikiya Kokotou who works as Touko's assistant. Shiki unravels the mystery as she ventures through an enigmatic world to uncover the dark secrets surrounding the strange phenomenon. Lots of talking and building up something, a bit of action. As a part of the series, I've still no idea where it's going to, but it's definitely not a masterpiece as of now.   Overall Rating: 6/10   39. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 2: Satsujin Kousatsu (Zen) The Garden of Sinners Chapter 2: A Study in Murder - Part 1 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第二章『殺人考察（前）』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense  In the winter of 1995, Mikiya Kokutou passes a young woman during a late night stroll in the snow. Clad in a striking white kimono and bearing an enigmatic gaze, Shiki Ryougi smiles at Mikiya who stares back with curiosity. Later that spring, Mikiya notices Shiki at his high school entrance ceremony, and they become acquaintances through lunchtime conversations. As Shiki begins opening up to him, Mikiya learns about her unique upbringing. Meanwhile, a series of unprecedented murders takes place across Mifune City. Seemingly related, these murders are particularly brutal and warrant a large scale police investigation. Because of his cousin's work as a police investigator, Mikiya is given insight into the investigation. Concerned for Shiki's safety, Mikiya decides to monitor her actions, but in doing so, he stumbles upon a truly frightening discovery that changes his life forever. Sequel that's still going nowhere.   Overall Rating: 6/10   40. Appleseed Saga Ex Machina Appleseed: Ex Machina エクスマキナ [Digital Frontier] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi  Deunan, a young female warrior, and Briareos, a veteran cyborg-soldier, are both partners and lovers. As members of E.S.W.A.T., the elite special forces serving Olympus, they are deployed whenever trouble strikes. The two fighters find their partnership tested in a new way by the arrival of a new member to their ranks—an experimental Bioroid named Tereus. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. .hack//G.U. Trilogy [CyberConnect2] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Video Game Action, Fantasy  The Movie will be placed in the storyline of each .hack//G.U. games trilogy. The story follows Haseo, a player in the online MMORPG called The World:R2 at first depicted as a PKK (Player Killer Killer) known as the "Terror of Death", a former member of the disbanded Twilight Brigade guild. Haseo encounters Azure Kite (believing him to be Tri-Edge and blaming him for what happened to Shino) but is hopelessly outmatched. Azure Kite easily defeats Haseo and Data Drains him, reducing his level from 133 to 1 and leaving him without any items, weapons, or member addresses. He is left with a mystery on his hands as to the nature of the Data Drain and why Azure Kite is in possession of such a skill. Eventually Haseo gains the "Avatar" of Skeith. Acquiring the ability to call Skeith and wield his abilities, such as Data Drain. With Skeith as his strength, Haseo begins the quest for a way to save Shino. He is seen seeking out a PK (Player Killer) known as Tri-Edge, whose victims supposedly are unable to return to The World after he PKs them. Haseo's friend, Shino, was attacked six months prior to the events of the game by Tri-Edge, and the player herself, Shino Nanao, was left in a coma. Short CG work unifying three bigger pieces had no chances for a decent score from the start.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  9. kivandopulus
    Ookami to Koushinryou is the only bright spot in this short season.   1. Ookami to Koushinryou Spice and Wolf 狼と香辛料  [Imagin] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Adult Cast Adventure, Fantasy, Romance  Holo is a powerful wolf deity who is revered in the small town of Pasloe for blessing the annual harvest. Yet as years go by and the villagers become more self-sufficient, Holo has been reduced to a mere folktale. When a traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence stops at the settlement, Holo offers to become his business partner if he takes her to her northern home of Yoitsu. The savvy trader recognizes Holo's unusual ability to evaluate a person's character and accepts her proposition. Now in the possession of both sharp bargaining skills and a charismatic negotiator, Lawrence inches closer to his goal of opening his own shop. However, as Lawrence travels the countryside with Holo in search of economic opportunities, he begins to realize that his aspirations are slowly morphing into something unexpected. I really enjoyed it when I first watched it, but I don't want to watch it anew as it's just medieval low fantasy SOL romance without conceptual plot or normal ending, and thus lacks excitement.   Overall Rating: 7/10   2. Rosario to Vampire Rosario + Vampire ロザリオとバンパイア [Gonzo] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Shounen Harem, School, Vampire Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Youkai Academy is a seemingly normal boarding school, except that its pupils are monsters learning to coexist with humans. All students attend in human form and take normal academic subjects, such as literature, gym, foreign language, and mathematics. However, there is one golden rule at Youkai Academy—all humans found on school grounds are to be executed immediately! Tsukune Aono is an average teenager who is unable to get into any high school because of his bad grades. His parents inadvertently enroll him into Youkai Academy as a last-ditch effort to secure his education. As Tsukune unknowingly enters this new world, he has a run-in with the most attractive girl on campus, Moka Akashiya. Deciding to stay in the perilous realm in order to further his relationship with Moka, he does not realize that beneath her beauty lies a menacing monster—a vampire. Rosario to Vampire is a supernatural school comedy that explores Tsukune's romantic exploits, experiences, and misadventures with a bevy of beautiful but dangerous creatures. Don't like harems, vampires and ecchi, so without serious plot it was a lost case from the start.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. True Tears  [P.A. Works] (Finished 5/13) Tags: Love Polygon, School Drama, Romance Shinichirou Nakagami was living the life other boys from his grade could only dream of—staying under the same roof as prodigal student Hiromi Yuasa. However, the bright and cheerful Hiromi has been depressed and cold at home ever since her mother passed away. While he is the subject of the ignorant jealousy of his peers, rumors begin to spread when Shinichirou meets Noe Isurugi—a girl known for cursing classmates, curses which always end up becoming reality. Noe curses Shinichirou as well, but two pits are created when you curse someone, and her curse on Shinichirou comes back to bite her in the form of a raccoon to her beloved chicken, Raigomaru. Despite this, she does not shed a single tear; Noe had had her tears stolen. For Noe to be able to cry again, she would need the tears of another, and Shinichirou knows a person whose tears he wants to take away. An OK romance , but characters have strange personalities and do strange stuff which may seem fresh from the start, but looks more and more like disorders later on. And watching crazy people dating does not look fun at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi Mnemosyne－ムネモシュネの娘たち－ [Xebec] (Finished 2/6) Tags: Gore Action, Girls Love, Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Immortality is something many people would wish for. But would it be such a coveted ability if people knew they would be subject to countless attacks because of it? Such is the case for Rin Asougi, an immortal private investigator, because there is no shortage of people who want her dead. Over the centuries, she has met many grisly ends, but each time, she returns to life as if nothing had happened. In 1990, while looking for a lost cat, Rin runs into Kouki Maeno, a man who feels that his memories are wrong. Agreeing to help him, Rin discovers that Kouki is not what he seems, all the while drawing closer to her true enemy. This adversary knows Rin and her kind all too well, and if she dies by his hand, she may stay dead permanently. This kind of gore is nauseating, so I just can't tolerate if for long. And since concept is all about constant dying and sadism, that's a skip.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 俗・さよなら絶望先生 [Shaft] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Parody, School Comedy More crazy antics abound as Nozomu Itoshiki (a.k.a Zetsubou-sensei), who is the worlds most negative person, tries to teach class 2-F about how life is filled with despair and darkness. A harder task than it first may seem, with his students being far from ordinary themselves, including the likes of the most positive girl he has ever met, his very own stalker, a foreign exchange student with split personalities and a perfectionist acting class president, due to the fact the real class president can't be seen by anyone, among others. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Aria the Origination  [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Iyashikei Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life In the 24th century on the planet Aqua, three girls—Akari Mizunashi, Alice Carroll, and Aika S. Granzchesta—continue to work hard toward achieving their goal of becoming Prima Undines: professional tour guide gondoliers. Luckily, the girls have the guidance of the three best Prima Undines in Neo-Venezia—Alicia Florence, Athena Glory, and Akira E. Ferrari—who are known as the "Water Fairies" in honor of their skill. With their help, the young apprentices train hard and work to overcome any situations that they find themselves in. Aria The Origination follows the hardships and daily lives of these three young girls, who are doing their best to improve as tour gondoliers in Neo-Venezia, a terraformed replica of Venice. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de They Are My Noble Masters 君が主で執事が俺で [A.C.G.T.] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Harem, Parody Comedy, Romance, Ecchi  Due to family troubles, Ren Uesugi and his sister, Mihato, leave their home. They end up moving to the city but find themselves with a lack of money. Somehow they are able to find work in the form of the Kuonji family's mansion, being employed as servants to the three sisters of the Kuonji family: Shinra, Miyu, and Yume. Being a servant also associates Ren with the mansion's additional servants and the Kuonji sisters' friends. I really wanted to watch this to the end, but it is just silly people behaving in silly ways, so it's a too big hit to my sanity to go on. It's nothing but nonsense parody, can't even call this humor - freak circus is more appropriate.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. H2O: Footprints in the Sand  [Zexcs] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem, School Romance Takuma Hirose is a blind young male high school student, though the cause for his blindness is undetermined. In order to heal his medical condition, he is sent to live in a village with his uncle. There, he meets several girls, three of which stand out more than any of the others. They are Hayami Kohinata, Hinata Kangura, and Otoha. Otoha temporarily heals his blindness and Hirose uses his sight to help others. He finds out that, for some reason, Hayami Kohinata is hated in the village, and he tries his best to help her out. Meanwhile, many sad secrets unfold in the village... Resembles nakige as it's deliberately light for the most part and deliberately heavy by the end dealing in disability, abuse and different personal problems. Unfortunately I did not like any of the characters, and there are filler episodes.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Shigofumi Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed シゴフミ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Psychological Drama, Fantasy, Suspense There are some things that people are unable to say while they are alive; for these, there are "shigofumi," letters carried from the world of the dead to the world of the living. When a person with strong emotions dies, they are able to create a shigofumi, whether their feelings are of love, longing, or resentment. It is the quiet and mysterious Fumika's job to deliver these messages from the departed. Along with her talking magic staff Kanaka, she ensures that each shigofumi reaches its intended recipient, even if that person does not want to face its contents. Fumika witnesses the tragedies of people, both dead and alive, and sees their deepest secrets revealed. What is unclear, however, are the details of Fumika's past. Who was she before she came to be a carrier of shigofumi? Another anthology of different stories, not to my taste.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Persona: Trinity Soul ペルソナ 〜トリニティ・ソウル〜 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 6/26) Tags: Super Power Action, Sci-Fi The stage is Ayanagi City, a city near the Japan Sea. It is a futuristic city that was built to carry out the recovery from the calamity caused by the "Apathy Syndrome" ten years previous. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryou, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police, again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears while in their submarine, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryou tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the "Persona." So far I hated every single Persona game and anime that I encountered for primitiveness and artificial behavior...   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Minami-ke Okawari みなみけ～おかわり～ [asread.] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen CGDCT, School Comedy, Slice of Life The second season of Minami-Ke. It picks up where the first season left off, and just like the first season, it's about the daily lives of the three Minami sisters, Haruka, Kana and Chiaki, and their school friends. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Major S4 メジャー　（第4シリーズ)  [SynergySP] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Team Sports Having finished high school, Gorou Honda sets his sights on becoming a professional baseball player. His dreams are much more ambitious than becoming a Japanese Baseball League player, so he instead decides to move to the birthplace of his beloved sport, America, in order to play in the Major League. However, Gorou finds that the Major League players are much faster, stronger, and more driven than he is. Nonetheless, he is eager to catch up with them. In order to do so, Gorou must first conquer the ranks of the Minor League, where numerous skilled players compete in the grueling rise to the Majors. Gorou learns that he will have to adapt to the stark differences of American culture and push himself to new extremes as his race to join the Major League begins. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino ガンスリンガー ガール -IL TEATRINO- [Artland] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Military Action, Drama, Sci-Fi When the Social Welfare Agency investigates the disappearance of an operative, their inquiry leads them right into the lair of their rival, the Five Republics. The assassin Triela infiltrates the hostile organization, but her search is cut short when she finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun... The magic of the first season is gone here - no good soundtrack or tender revelations of girls. Story becomes retarded as super terrorists without any written motivation show up, and they are even stronger than cyborgs while staying human. It feels that story is forced in artificial manner.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Hatenkou Yuugi Hatenkou Yugi 破天荒遊戯 [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/10) Tags: Josei Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance "See the world" With these words, Rahzel, the daughter of a rich family, is kicked out of her house and sent on her journey. Along the way she meets up with Heat and Alzeid, two men with very different personalities but very similar journeys. Rahzel is a clever, stubborn, and confident girl, who, with the powers of her magic and mind helps the people she runs into on her journey to discover the world. It's basically reverse harem, just with only two bishounens. And I started blocking that tag for a reason.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Ayakashi アヤカシ [Tokyo Kids] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi  As a child, Yuu Kusaka made a vow upon a shooting star that he would stand on the side of justice and defend the weak. However, the death of one of his friends robs him of the desire to live up to that vow, and he turns a blind eye to the misery of others, using the mysterious power he possesses as a means of making money instead of helping those in need. His days of living only for himself continue, until he's forced to fight for his life against another classmate with powers similar to his. He's saved by a mysterious girl named Eimu Yoake, who also has strange powers. Eimu reveals that his powers stem from a creature known as an Ayakashi, a parasitic being that grants the user special abilities at the price of slowly draining the life of the host. She helps him fully awaken his own. Now aware of the ayakashi he possesses, Yuu must live up to his childhood vow, putting his ayakashi to use and fend off those who would use their own for evil, all while unraveling the mystery behind the death of his friend. Good shounen with superpowers, but not exceptional. I think I compared anime with visual novel in game review.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Bus Gamer  [Anpro] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Action  One day, Toki Mishiba receives a letter in the mail promising him a large sum of money if he participates in a game. Initially dismissing the message, Toki becomes intrigued and decides to sign up after noticing fine print that says players' safety will not be guaranteed. It is not long after that he meets Nobuto Nakajou and Kazuo Saitou—the teammates assigned to him in the "Business Game," also known as "Biz Game." The members of the trio quickly form a shaky alliance and call themselves "No Name." Bound by nothing but their shared desire for an obscene amount of money, the three step into the dangerous world of the Biz Game, where they must fight against other teams over a data disk containing vital corporate secrets in order to advance and survive. It has the looks and some vibes of shounen ai, Survival game is half of the show, but it ends with pretty much nothing, which means that it all was about relations that constituted the second half.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Hakaba Kitarou Graveyard Kitaro 墓場鬼太郎 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Horror, Supernatural Kitarou is a youkai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and youkai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter. This version of the Kitarou story is based on the original Hakaba Kitarou manga, the manga which inspired the popular Gegege no Kitarou series in the late 60's. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! Yes! プリキュア5 GoGo! [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/48) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Action, Fantasy Nozomi and friends are back, their role as Precure far from over. The girls are given new powers by the mysterious Flora, who awaits their arrival in a place called the Cure Rose Garden. But to reach that garden of legend, they have to use a magical relic known as the Rose Pact. Problem is, our heroes don't know how to use the thing. This leads them to seek help from the four monarchs of Palmier's neighboring countries. Not to make things too easy, dark forces are afoot once again. An evil organization, Eternal, is keen on adding the Rose Pact to its ever-growing collection of treasures. To make matters worse, the director of this dastardly museum seems to have a vested interest in the Cure Rose Garden. Fortunately, a new story brings with it new allies. Enter Syrup, the courier boy with a bad attitude. His desire to reach the Garden is pure, but who exactly is he? And for that matter, who's the new girl in town and why does she smell like roses? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Wellber no Monogatari: Sisters of Wellber Zwei Sisters of Wellber Zwei ウエルベールの物語 ～Sisters of Wellber～ 第二幕 [Trans Arts] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Historical Adventure, Fantasy, Romance  The loquacious sentient tank, Gyrano De Borgerac seems very busy being pampered by solicitous maids. The fairy Sherri, too, is enjoying the luxury of the court's life. And for Rita, time has come to face her duties as princess of Wellber. But Tina is resolute: she wants to continue her search for the Man with a tattoo of Bee the Death, the devil who exterminated her family. An unspeakable feeling of sadness fills the hearts of the two girls, who shared so much and are now about to say farewell to each other. And then, on the day of Tina's departure... A new journey that will take Tina walking through the still sore scars of the Great War that wiped out entire cities ten years before, until the unsuspected truth about her nemesis! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Yatterman ヤッターマン [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 1/60) Tags: Parody Adventure, Comedy Remake of the Yatterman series. Remake of borderline childish series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Porphy no Nagai Tabi The Orphans of Simitra ポルフィの長い旅 [Nippon Animation] (Finished 3/52) Tags: Historical Drama Porfy, his younger sister Mina, and their parents live a humble but happy life in the Grecian countryside. They've just started running a gas station, much to Porphy's joy, and it seems like only good things are in store for their future. However, a huge earthquake changes all that, leaving Porfy without a home or a family -- sans Mina, who seems to have disappeared in the commotion. Now, Porfy is determined to find his sister and be able to live together happily again. World Masterpiece Theater... but at least something relatively modern. Still it does not mean I'll tolerate travel blog for 52 episodes in search of the sister with pace so slow that three episodes aren't even enough for premise separation scene.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Noramimi のらみみ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Childcare Comedy The anime is based on Kazuo Hara's comedy manga in which mascot characters live and work among humans. Agencies have been set up to train mascots to babysit children and then to place the mascots within families. Noramimi is one such mascot at the Hello Kids branch office #59. Unfortunately, no family wants to adopt a mascot born from a demon (oni) family, so he is stuck living at the agency. Crude nonsense comedy for kids.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Petit Petit Muse 쁘띠쁘띠 뮤즈 [KBS] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Fantasy Two twins, Ara and Ari, aspire into the world of fashion. Ara wants to become a fashion model, while her sister, Ari, wants to become a fashion designer. They meet a man named Yorang, who is the fashion designer in Heaven. Not translated to English. But from what I see it's a typical Korean imitation of mahou shoujo series like Precure, put more primitive.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Kite Liberator KITE LIBERATOR (カイト リベレイター) [Arms] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Gore Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the previous series "Kite," a killer—Sawa—suddenly disappears after she avenges her parents' death, and no one knows where she is. Several years later, a figure dances airily on the dark side of a big city. She is an angel of death, killing her victim gracefully and disappearing. Monaka is a normal high school student, though this quiet and modest life has a darker side. An angel of death is Monaka's other persona. Original was marked as hentai, so could not include it although it was memorable. Never heard of this sequel movie, so rather intrigued. It's a high quality epilogue that shows where Kite works in everyday life and how she still occasionally takes part in operations, and parallel story starts afar, but develops into a really dangerous mission. So I just can't treat it as a real sequel and evaluate it highly.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Yotsunoha よつのは [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 2/2) Tags: School Romance Based on the game by Haikuo-Soft. A story about the reunion of 4 childhood friends, Yuzuki, Matsuri, Nono and Makoto, in their deserted old school campus, Mochitsuki Academy. 3 years ago, they buried a time capsule under a tree inside the school and made a promise. A promise to meet again after exactly 3 years from that day. And the day of promise has finally arrived. Original was just a light cute sekkuhara comedy, and the gist has not changed in adaptation.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Shinran-sama: Negai, Soshite Hikari 親鸞さま ねがい そして、ひかり。 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical The life story of Shinran, founder of Joudo Shinshuu. Did not what Joudo Shinshuu is, so was a bit curious, but it's just competition between buddhist temples and pacifism miracles, nothing big.   Overall Rating: 5/10
      27. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 3: Tsuukaku Zanryuu The Garden of Sinners Chapter 3: Remaining Sense of Pain 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第三章『痛覚残留』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense  On a solemn night in July 1998, teenager Fujino Asagami is mercilessly raped by a street gang in a dilapidated bar. No matter what physical or sexual abuse they deal, however, the girl regards her captors with the same apathetic expression. The next day, mangled bodies are discovered in that same building, so torn apart that investigators find it infeasible to even consider the culprit human. Elsewhere, a client request reaches Touko Aozaki's detective agency, tasking Shiki Ryougi with either capturing or killing the perpetrator of last night's incident. But soon, word spreads that a single survivor escaped the slaughter, and now the murderer is plowing down everything in their path to locate and exterminate him. A brutal race against time begins, pitting Shiki against a dangerous foe imperceptible even to her legendary eyes. Detective supernatural mystery is what I can understand well... but I dislike that.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Sugai-kun to Kazoku Ishi The Movie 菅井君と家族石 THE MOVIE [DLE] (Finished 10/1) Tags: Parody Comedy The Japanese animation production company Animax announced that Kaeruotoko-Shokai's second theatrical Flash-animated film, Sguy and The Family Stone the Movie, will open in a limited engagement in Japan on February 16. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  10. kivandopulus
    Druaga no Tou: The Aegis of Uruk is a great inspiring fantasy . Also found Kure-nai enjoyable.    1. Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2 Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ 続編  [Sunrise] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Mecha, Military, Super Power Action, Award Winning, Drama, Sci-Fi One year has passed since the Black Rebellion, a failed uprising against the Holy Britannian Empire led by the masked vigilante Zero, who is now missing. At a loss without their revolutionary leader, Area 11's resistance group—the Black Knights—find themselves too powerless to combat the brutality inflicted upon the Elevens by Britannia, which has increased significantly in order to crush any hope of a future revolt. Lelouch Lamperouge, having lost all memory of his double life, is living peacefully alongside his friends as a high school student at Ashford Academy. His former partner C.C., unable to accept this turn of events, takes it upon herself to remind him of his past purpose, hoping that the mastermind Zero will rise once again to finish what he started, in this thrilling conclusion to the series. I'm still sure that original concept of Code Geass was born as imitation of Death Note, but this second season is sure original... and crappy. After such horrible ending can't even treat the whole season properly.   Overall Rating: 5/10   2. Soul Eater ソウルイーター [Bones] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Shounen School Action, Comedy, Fantasy Death City is home to the famous Death Weapon Meister Academy, a technical academy headed by the Shinigami—Lord Death himself. Its mission: to raise "Death Scythes" for the Shinigami to wield against the many evils of their fantastical world. These Death Scythes, however, are not made from physical weapons; rather, they are born from human hybrids who have the ability to transform their bodies into Demon Weapons, and only after they have consumed the souls of 99 evil beings and one witch's soul. Soul Eater Evans, a Demon Scythe who only seems to care about what's cool, aims to become a Death Scythe with the help of his straight-laced wielder, or meister, Maka Albarn. The contrasting duo work and study alongside the hot headed Black☆Star and his caring weapon Tsubaki, as well as the Shinigami's own son, Death the Kid, an obsessive-compulsive dual wielder of twin pistols Patty and Liz. Soul Eater follows these students of Shibusen as they take on missions to collect souls and protect the city from the world's threats while working together under the snickering sun to become sounder in mind, body, and soul. Tried it in the past as Soul Eater is a rather popular shounen anime, but it struck me as average that time, and now after refreshing memories I still see it as hectic, nonsense and too teenager'ish   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. To LOVE-Ru To Love Ru To LOVEる -とらぶる-  [Xebec] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Timid 16-year-old Rito Yuuki has yet to profess his love to Haruna Sairenji—a classmate and object of his infatuation since junior high. Sadly, his situation becomes even more challenging when one night, a mysterious, stark-naked girl crash-lands right on top of a bathing Rito. To add to the confusion, Rito discovers that the girl, Lala Satalin Deviluke, is the crown princess of an alien empire and has run away from her home. Despite her position as the heiress to the most dominant power in the entire galaxy, Lala is surprisingly more than willing to marry the decidedly average Rito in order to avoid an unwanted political marriage. To LOVE-Ru depicts Rito's daily struggles with the bizarre chaos that begins upon the arrival of Lala. With an evergrowing legion of swooning beauties that continuously foil his attempted confessions to Haruna, To LOVE-Ru is a romantic comedy full of slapstick humor, sexy girls, and outlandishly lewd moments that defy the laws of physics. Series that challenges limits of ecchi like many other in the same genre, but story is not in focus, just slacking.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Vampire Knight ヴァンパイア騎士〈ナイト〉  [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shoujo Love Polygon, Vampire Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural The cheerful Yuuki Cross and the gruff Zero Kiryuu are members of the disciplinary committee at Cross Academy, which houses two very distinct classes: the Day Class and the Night Class. Their job consists of upholding order between the classes when they switch out. While that may not seem like an especially difficult task, the Day Class is unaware of the truth behind the Night Class—their utterly gorgeous students are vampires. Ten years ago, Yuuki was saved from a vampire attack by Kaname Kuran, a Pureblood vampire. Now, Kaname is the leader of the Night Class, and Yuuki's disciplinary committee position allows her to see him again, making her feelings for him grow complicated. Meanwhile, Zero bears a white-hot hatred of all vampires and believes they can never live in harmony with humans. But a secret from Zero's past soon threatens the fragile peace of all at the academy, and things may never be the same again. Maybe it was inspiration for Twilight series. Anyway, shoujo in love with vampire is not the thing I can enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Special A Special A (S.A) スペシャル・エー [Gonzo, AIC] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance Hikari Hanazono has always been able to do things that normal people cannot. As a child, she assumed no one could beat her—until she met Kei Takishima. Thinking she would win, Hikari challenged him to a match. But things didn’t go as planned; she lost not once but each time she rechallenged him. From that point on, she has sworn to best Kei at everything, ranging from academics to athletics. To achieve her goal, Hikari enrolls in the same school as Kei—Hakusenkan, a prestigious institute for the wealthy. As a pair, they hold the top two rankings in school and are among seven of the academy's best students in a class known as Special A. While Hikari treats Kei as a rival, she is completely oblivious that he harbors hidden feelings for her. Together, the members of Special A deal with competition, friendship, and just a bit of love. Is it just me or Special A repeats concept of His and Her circumstances almost to the dot... But that show transformed rather fast while Special A repeats this unfunny comedy cycle over cycle. Basically, it all comes down to tropes rather than inventiveness.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Itazura na Kiss ItaKiss イタズラなKiss [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Shoujo Comedy, Romance  When her newly-built home is razed to the ground by an earthquake, low-achieving, clumsy, and troublesome third-year high school student Kotoko Aihara is forced to share a roof with the school's—and possibly Japan's—smartest student, Naoki Irie. Kotoko is not actually a complete stranger to Irie-kun; unfortunately, a single love letter that she tried to give him in the past has already sealed her fate as far as he is concerned. Throw in some quirky friends and a meddlesome mother, and Kotoko might not even have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the older Irie boy's heart. Yet Kotoko remains optimistic that, because she now lives in his house, her unattainable crush on the genius since the beginning of high school has never been more within reach. Blackmailing into helping with study based on revealing personal secret is another trait of His and Her circumstances, same as perfect in study boy. But, after all, it's more important how it all develops. And as far as I see this cycle of boy rejection and abuse is going to last for a long time. And that makes it more mechanical and worse in comparison with the aforementioned show.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Kanokon Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Fox かのこん [Xebec] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi  Kouta has girl troubles of the supernatural sort. For some reason, he keeps attracting the attention (and affections) of animal spirits! Having spent most of his life in the country, Kouta is understandably nervous when he moves in with his grandma to attend a high school in the big city. He hoped to make a good impression, but having Chizuru, a beautiful fox spirit, hanging off his arm didn't seem to be the sort of image he wanted to have. She's not alone in her love for Kouta, either. Nozomu, a wolf spirit, as well as other youkai have their sights set on the hapless country boy. Superpower girls abusing shota is somewhat fresh, but only because it's too silly in the first place. It grows old way too fast. Not seeing any value here apart of practical usage.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Nabari no Ou 隠の王 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Shounen Action, Drama, Supernatural Silent, apathetic, yet mischievous, 14-year-old Rokujou Miharu is the bearer of the hijutsu, "Shinrabanshou," a powerful technique many ninja clans desire to possess to become the ruler of Nabari. Fellow classmate Kouichi and his English teacher Kumohira are both secretly Banten clan ninjas, pledging themselves to protect Miharu from his many attackers. Keeping apathetic, Miharu attempts to reject their invitation to join their ninja "club." However, after numerous attacks, he finds no choice but to join their group as a means for his survival. Slowly, Miharu takes a step closer to becoming the ruler of Nabari. I don't believe in good ninja shounen anime. And characters here are subpar.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Kaiba カイバ [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Adventure, Award Winning, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi  In a world where memories exist in memory chips separate from the body, death of the body no longer means death of the soul. It is possible for memories to be viewed, altered, and transferred between bodies. These memory chips are used by the rich to obtain eternal lives in carefully selected bodies, while for the poor, selling their own bodies and conserving their souls in the chips often become the only way to earn a living. An electrolytic cloud in the sky serves as a barrier between the heavens of the fortunate and the underworld of the destitute, making this social division impregnable. One day, a man named Kaiba wakes up in an empty room with no memories, a mysterious hole in his chest, and a locket holding the picture of an unknown woman. After escaping an attack and stumbling upon a decrepit village of underworld residents, he begins his adventure across the different planets of this strange universe to find out more about his own identity and the woman he once knew. Through a journey of self-discovery and acceptance, Kaiba weaves together tales of souls and spirits and explores the importance of memories. Oh, I remembered that I actually watched it. A hectic dystopian adventure. The very fact that it's so easily forgotten says that it's not important or impactful enough to remember for me, can't recommend something this much chaotic.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Macross F Macross Frontier マクロスF（フロンティア） [Satelight] (Finished 4/25) Tags: Mecha, Military, Music, Space Action, Award Winning, Romance, Sci-Fi Following a catastrophic war against a race of giants known as the Zentradi, humanity has escaped towards the center of the galaxy aboard a fleet of colonial vessels called the Macross Frontier. As the extraterrestrial threat is left further and further behind, life on Macross Frontier proceeds as usual. In the year 2059, a young mecha pilot trainee named Alto Saotome and his colleagues are preparing to perform an accompanying routine for the famous singer Sheryl Nome, who has come to Macross Frontier for a concert. During the performance, a biomechanical alien species known as the Vajra make a sudden appearance, breaking through the defensive perimeter surrounding the vessel and crash-landing near the concert venue, plunging the entire city into chaos. As the concertgoers evacuate, a young girl named Ranka Lee is left behind and gets targeted by the Vajra, but she is saved at the last minute by Alto. Following these events, the Strategic Military Services program notes Alto's skill in battle, resulting in his recruitment to combat the new alien threat. To save identity Macross iterations try to mimic its concepts, mainly romance between pilot and singer, and also music as weapon. And seeing this concept repeated more than once is so artificial that I can not even treat it seriously.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. xxxHOLiC◆Kei ×××HOLiC◆継 [Production I.G] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural Kimihiro Watanuki's life was never really normal. But in addition to his ability to see spirits, this sequel to xxxHOLiC finds him still slaving away for Yuuko, the bizarre owner of a strange shop, who promised to rid him of this ability. However, this otherworldly woman can only do so when he has worked enough to earn his wish. Such is the way for anyone who finds their way into the shop to have their request granted: a compensation equal to their wish must be paid. In this odd shop that straddles the world of the living and the dead, Watanuki finds himself doing household chores for the seemingly lazy Yuuko and her companions, while also helping out clients. Along with his classmates, supposed romantic rival Shizuka Doumeki and his crush Himawari Kunogi, Watanuki deals with the many misfortunes surrounding Yuuko's customers, as well as those that closely follow him and his friends. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Yu☆Gi☆Oh! 5D's Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's 遊☆戯☆王5D's（ファイブディーズ） [Gallop] (Finished 1/154) Tags: Shounen Strategy Game Action  Yuusei Fudou is out to get back what was stolen from him. The world of dueling has evolved, with Riding Duels becoming the peak of entertainment for the residents of Neo Domino City. They are played on D-Wheels, a hybrid between Duel Disks and motorbikes. After the mechanically skilled Yuusei managed to build his own D-Wheel, his former friend Jack Atlas stole it alongside Yuusei's best card, Stardust Dragon; ditching their decrepit hometown of Satellite, he escaped to Neo Domino City. In the two years since then, Jack has risen to the top of the dueling world, while Yuusei has been making preparations thanks to the help of his friends. With his new D-Wheel finished, he now sets off to Neo Domino City, his only goal to find Jack. Unbeknownst to either of them, there are far bigger things at stake than they can imagine, with puppeteers pulling the strings behind the scenes. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Druaga no Tou: The Aegis of Uruk Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk ドルアーガの塔 〜the Aegis of URUK〜 [Gonzo] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  It is said that every few years, there is what's known as the "Summer of Anu." During that summer, thanks to the divine protection of the sky-god Anu, all of the demons in the tower lose their power. The country of Uruk has begun an invasion of the tower in order to suppress the demons. They've built up positions inside the tower, with their sights set on getting to the upper levels. The Uruk army knows that this is the third Summer of Anu-a perfect time to launch a mission to suppress the monster Druaga once and for all. The army soldiers aren't the only ones in the tower, though. An enitre city called Meskia has formed inside the tower's first floor. It plays host not just to soldiers, but also to adventurers who have heard rumors about a legendary treasure called the Blue Crystal Rod, which is said to rest at the very top of the tower. With all these different groups in the mix, each with its own agenda, one can only guess how things will play out during this unusual summer. Finally. Tower of Druaga opens up pandora box of isekai RPG-like fantasy that reigns even today even though it's not isekai itself. It's great, but not without fillers on the way to the tower top, so I won't claim it to be perfect, but it's somewhere near.   Overall Rating: 9/10   14. Kure-nai Kurenai 紅 [Brain's Base] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Childcare Comedy, Drama Shinkurou Kurenai is a 16-year-old student by day and a dispute mediator by night. Though kind-hearted and patient, due to his tragic past, he has trained for years to live on. Now, despite his unimposing appearance, he is a strong martial artist, who also possesses a strange power. While taking various jobs for his employer, Benika Juuzawa, one assignment leads Shinkurou to live with Murasaki Kuhouin as her bodyguard. Murasaki is the seven-year-old daughter of a plutocratic family, who escaped her home under peculiar circumstances with Benika's help. Commoner life, in her eyes, seems bizarre. However, by interacting with her neighbors, she grows more accustomed to the daily routine, and rids herself of her snobbish behavior, gradually growing attached to Shinkurou. Though many details of the job remain unclear, Shinkurou still strives to protect the young lady. But to make things more complicated, he also lacks a crucial fact—what is the real threat against Murasaki? A surprisingly touching friendship story between a man and a preschool girl. It has human depth and really nice characters with backstories. The story is not special or impactful, but with a very dark taste behind it. It's a flawed gem and thus deserves to be better known.  Overall Rating: 7/10   15. Blassreiter ブラスレイター  [Gonzo] (Finished 5/24) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  Modern Germany is plagued by an outbreak of "Amalgams." Existing solely to wreak havoc, these cybernetic entities spawn from rotting flesh and can fuse with technology to gain new abilities. With society left in the wake of their destruction, the Xenogenesis Assault Team (XAT) is formed to suppress the threat. Alongside its primary mission to protect against the Amalgam attacks, the organization is also researching the newly discovered "amalgamated" humans which possess rational thought and are far deadlier than their non-sentient counterparts. Joseph Jobson is one such amalgamated human who has full control over his powers. Although successful in his line of work as a lone warrior, an unfortunate encounter with the recently-turned-Amalgam Gerd Frentzen makes him a priority target of the XAT. As he eludes the organization and seeks new allies, Joseph is transformed into the Blassreiter—a being heralded as the strongest Amalgam in existence. Now, he must fight back with his newfound powers to uncover the truth behind not only his past, but also the entire Amalgam conflict. A very strange and unappealing mix of racing and CG mecha fighting monsters or other mecha. No matter how I look at it, can't call it good.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Toshokan Sensou Library Wars 図書館戦争 [Production I.G] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Adult Cast, Military Action, Comedy, Romance In the year 1989, the Japanese government passed the Media Betterment Act, allowing a group of soldiers known as the Media Betterment Committee (MBC) to destroy and censor any "problematic" media under the guise of protecting public morals. As a response, regional governments established the Library Defense Force (LDF), whose members take up arms and put their lives on the line to protect freedom of expression. At the top of the Kanto branch of the LDF stands the Library Task Force (LTF): an elite squad consisting of only the most exceptional fighters. As a high schooler, Iku Kasahara experienced the terror of censorship first-hand when she refused to surrender the newest volume of her favorite series to MBC agents. She only came out unscathed thanks to a lone member of the LDF, who protected her and her beloved book. Now in her 20s and still unable to forget the man who saved her, Kasahara joins the LDF in the hope of becoming just like her prince. But LDF training turns out to be far more rigorous than she could have imagined, and her instructor, LTF member Atsushi Doujou, seems fixated on making her life a living hell. Given her struggles, Kasahara is shocked when she is selected as one of the two new LTF recruits as a result of Doujou's recommendation. As Kasahara does all she can to become worthy of the LTF and unravel her enigmatic superior's motivations, she wages war—both on the battlefield and in her personal life. One of the most stupid shows I've seen, starting from title and concept, continuing with time limits for battles and indistinct artificial behavior of characters, it reeks of fake for me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Amatsuki あまつき [Studio Deen] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Josei Action, Fantasy, Mystery Tokidoki Rikugou is a history-hating student who flunks out of his Japanese History course; his high school forces him to make up for his failed grade by attending a special museum lecture. Its star exhibit, a vast recreation of the Edo Period, promises to alleviate the delinquent student's poor grades with an elaborate simulation of the Tokugawa Shogunate: the Edo Bakumatsu Walking Tour and Exhibition. Knowing next to nothing about samurai culture or the times he's walked into, he is quickly surprised to learn of the superstitious nature of Japan during the 1600s. Quickly dismissing the existence of gods and demons, he is shocked when confronted by a demon on a bridge, who attacks the unsuspecting high-schooler. Saved by a mysterious swordsman named Kuchiha, he discovers that he can no longer escape the simulation at the history museum. Meeting another swordsman named Kon Shinonome, he discovers another contemporary that was trapped in the simulation before him. Quickly adjusting to his new home, Tokidoki must now help protect the village from demons, while uncovering the mystery of both the simulation and the company that created it. Absolutely empty Josei with no story attached to time travel to past.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Zettai Karen Children 絶対可憐チルドレン  [SynergySP] (Finished 3/51) Tags: Shounen Action, Comedy, Supernatural They're cute, adorable and three of the most powerful Espers the world has ever seen: Kaoru, the brash psychokinetic who can move objects with her mind; Shiho, the sarcastic and dark natured psychometric able to pick thoughts from people's minds and read the pasts of inanimate objects like a book; and Aoi, the most collected and rational of the three, who has the ability to teleport herself and the others at will. So what to do with these potential psychic monsters in the making? Enter B.A.B.E.L., the Base of Backing ESP Laboratory, where hopefully "The Children" and others like them can become part of the answer to an increasing wave of psychic evolution. It's a win-win solution... Unless you're Koichi Minamoto, the overworked young man stuck with the unenviable task of field commanding a team of three pre-teen girls! Some unserious mahou shoujo variation in form of espers. Humor only rarely hits right for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Allison to Lillia Allison & Lillia アリソンとリリア [Madhouse] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Action, Adventure  Set in a continent divided into two commonwealths that have been engaged in war for hundreds of years, Allison and Will go on a mission to search "the treasure that will put an end to the war". Their hope is inherited to their daughter Lillia, who strives to thaw the torn nations into a united country. This anime encourages young generations to believe in a world without hatred or war regardless of nationalities and beliefs. Show aims to be inspirational, so it puts romanticism of air travel and pacifism in the core and elements should somehow form a story from there. It can be considered imitation of Kino no Tabi.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Golgo 13 (TV) Golgo 13 ゴルゴ13 [The Answer Studio] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Drama, Suspense  Golgo 13 is not his real name. Then again, neither is Duke Togo, Tadashi Togo, or any number of the aliases he goes by. A man of mystery, not even the world’s most prominent intelligence agencies can determine who Golgo really is, or just where he came from. But all agree that his skills are nothing short of legendary. Armed with a custom M16, Golgo is willing to take any job for any agency, from the FBI to the KGB. He has completed every contract he has ever taken and will work for anyone who can meet his price. He is both the greatest weapon and the greatest threat to any nation; no one is safe once they are in Golgo’s sights. Sequel. Just eternally boring James Bond variation.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Kamen no Maid Guy 仮面のメイドガイ [Madhouse] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Comedy, Ecchi Fujiwara Naeka is a typical 17-year-old high school student. Or so we thought. She's really one of two surviving heirs of a tycoon who has the right to inherit his mass fortune when she turns 18 in half a year. Fubuki, a young and beautiful maid, and Kogarashi, a big burly maid guy with a mask, have been assigned to keep Naeka and her brother Kousuke safe from those who would plot their demise, and to steal the fortune she would inherit. Another interpretation of flat-chested VS busted wars... some humor is ok.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Nijuu Mensou no Musume The Daughter of 20 Faces 二十面相の娘 [Bones, Telecom Animation Film] (Finished 4/22) Tags: Seinen Action, Adventure, Mystery Chiko is the daughter of the wealthy Mikamo family who has to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents passed away. Because her aunt wants to inherit the Mikamo family's wealth, she gives Chiko poisoned food. One day, however, she's kidnapped by the Nijuu Mensou (20 Faces) and decides to join his clan. Phantom thieves team travels and steals beautiful items... so something like Ocean's Twelve with many cases.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Kyou kara Maou! 3rd Series 今日からマ王！第3シリーズ [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Shoujo Isekai Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy At the end of season 2. Yuuri defeats Shinou, but since Shinou had been defeated, Yuuri and Murata could no longer go to the Shin Makoku. However, because Yuuri had fought and defeated him, his powers had surpassed that of Shinou's, resulting in him being able to rely on his own power to return to Shin Makoku. After the ceremony at the age of 16, Yuuri slowly begins to discover that much has happened while he was away. The ten officials of the noble family have decided to make Wolfram the next Maou, but now that Yuuri has returned and taken back his role as Maou, complications arise when one noble disagrees with Yuuri returning to the throne. In addition, an ancient secret society that threatens the peace of both humans and Mazoku has risen, and a fight for the throne that now leaves the nobles wondering who is the legitimate Maou. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Wagaya no Oinari-sama. 我が家のお稲荷さま。 [Zexcs] (Finished 6/24) Tags: Magical Sex Shift, Mythology Comedy, Fantasy The Mizuchi bloodline has long been hunted by Yokai, or monsters. Toru and Noboru Takagami are descendents of this bloodline, and under their grandmother's discretion, are given a secret weapon to combat these monsters. It is Tenko Kugen, a fox deity who can take the shape of a man or woman at will. The mischievous deity is accompanied by a shrine maiden, Ko, who will both live with the Takagami brothers at their house. Life just got complicated. I don't find it funny at all, probably because I don't like Ranma transfers, so comedy genre is a surprise for me here. It's living together with a kitsune moe SOL and a bit of fighting spirits developing in totally random directions.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. D.C.II S.S.: Da Capo II Second Season D.C.II S.S. ～ダ・カーポII セカンドシーズン～ [feel.] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Harem Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance The story continues where it left off at season 1, but now we start to get to know the people we already know a little more in detail. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Kyouran Kazoku Nikki 狂乱家族日記 [Nomad] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi  Midarezaki Ouka is used to having strange things happen to him -after all, he is the head of the Great Japanese Empire Paranormal Phenomena Bureau of Measures. But when he catches a small cat girl in the shopping district stealing apples, his whole life rearranges to fit a new operation... OPERATION COZY FAMILY. Thousands of years ago, Enka the God of Destruction, was killed. However, with a dying breath it claimed that its child would appear and destroy humanity. Now in futuristic Japan, all of the potential children of Enka have been found and placed into a haphazard family. Teika the lion, Gekka the jellyfish, Yuuka the oni, Ginka the cross-dressing mafia son, and Hyouka the bioweapon--along with their parents Ouka and Kyouka (the ruler of a demon underworld)--all live under one roof in a family frenzy. Setting is too ridiculous, comedy too episodic and random and full of nonsense...   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. RD Sennou Chousashitsu RD 潜脳調査室 [Production I.G] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  2061 AD. Fifty years have passed since mankind developed the Network society. It was anticipated that this new infrastructure would realize a utopia where people connected with each other at the level of consciousness. However, new social problems such as personal data leaks and proliferation of manipulated information began to surface. Nevertheless, people still relied on the Network to exchange information, and proved unable to opt to abandon it. In due course, a new Network realm with more effective security measures was developed. This was called Meta Real Network, usually abbreviated as "the Metal." The Metal accommodated personal memory data within protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells and eventually pervaded the everyday lives of people. However, people gradually learned to release and explode their instincts within the secure environment of the Metal. The unleashed instincts pushed each individual's consciousness to drown in the sea of information and to be exposed to the pressures of desire. Meanwhile, norms and regulations continued to bind their real world lives. Thus, strange friction between the two worlds began to manifest themselves as aberrations beyond the bounds of the imaginable. Experts who challenged the deep sea of the Metal to investigate and decipher such aberrations were called cyber divers. This is a story of a cyber diver, Masamichi Haru, who investigates the incidents that lie between Reality and the Metal. A collection of cases, so can be called a detective, although not every activity is a case. I just could not believe that whole show is a filler, so watched to the end, but it is indeed so - just the most dangerous VR dive is pushed to the end and a bit of matrix theme. It's a waste of time on banalities.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Top Secret: The Revelation 秘密（トップシークレット） The Revelation [Madhouse] (Finished 4/26) Tags: Shoujo Detective, Psychological Mystery, Sci-Fi In the future, a new MRI technology analyzes the brains of deceased crime victims and eyewitnesses within 48 hours of their death to extract images of their memories. Although this cutting-edge technology is responsible for solving various murder cases, it has raised several ethical concerns, placing Section Nine—the police division in charge of the MRI investigations led by Tsuyoshi Maki—under considerable pressure from the media and the government. The team members of Section Nine are not only forced to witness traumatic events through the eyes of both victims and murderers, but they also need to negotiate with the victims' families, whose consent is required for the post-mortem MRI scans. Freshly graduated from the police academy, Ikkou Aoki joins Section Nine to replace Maki's best friend Katsuhiro Suzuki—a former member who passed away under ambiguous circumstances after watching MRI footage from a particularly morbid criminal case. As a stream of seemingly unrelated events creeps closer to the case of Suzuki's death, Section Nine will have to face its greatest challenge to date, threatening its very existence. Episodic detective story, so I can't enjoy it without some genre sidetracking, and it's quite typical, slow and bleak.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Blue Dragon: Tenkai no Shichi Ryuu Blue Dragon: Trials of the Seven Shadows BLUE DRAGON 天界の七竜 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural  After the events of the Blue Dragon series, Shu and Bouquet join a resistance group to fight General Rogi's army of invasion.They encounter a mysterious child , Noi, who has the power to revive Shu's shadow counter-part Blue Dragon, and save her from the pursuit of a red dragon. Now Shu and his company have to set foot once again on a journey to discover the purpose of the dragons, undergo their tests and stop the chains of events which threatens the fate of humanity. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Crystal Blaze Glass Maiden クリスタル ブレイズ [Studio Fantasia] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi Rags Town is the garbage dump of Japan. The place where people who want to forget their pasts run to. In this town, where the rules strictly forbid asking about the past or getting to know people, there is small detective agency called S&A Detectives. The story revolves around Ayamana, the inseparable pair of misfit wannabe detectives, the case Manami takes on impulse, and the trouble that arises from it. On the case they find a woman who is abnormally hot, and who is being chased by a bunch of women with guns. After being dubbed Sara, the detectives try and figure out just what is going on with her. At the same time, all over town teenage girls are burning up and turning into glass. The government is covering everything up, but the detectives, as well as a nosy reporter and the local police, are determined to find out what is happening. Strange mediocre anime about finding glass woman who is a result of experiment and of course getting pursued by powerful enemies like in almost any story about stray android. There's noir style, action and some sci-fi which is enough to endure it, but not enough to enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Shin Chou Kyou Ryo: Condor Hero III Legend of the Condor Hero III 神鵰俠侶 III: 十六年之約 [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance Continuation of Legend of the Condor Hero II. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Onegai♪My Melody Kirara★ おねがい♪マイメロディ きららっ★ [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Comedy, Fantasy  Sequel to Onegai My Melody Sukkiri. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Uchi no 3 Shimai うちの3姉妹 [Toei Animation, Daewon Media] (Finished 0/102) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life  The daily life of the Motsumoto family. The three sisters, Fuu, Suu, and Chii, follow what happens on a daily basis. Mother and Father have to deal with them sometimes, but they're used to it. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   34. Candy Boy: Nonchalant Talk of the Certain Twin Sisters in Daily Life  [AIC] (Finished 5/7) Tags: Love Polygon, School Girls Love, Romance Yukino and Kanade Sakurai are twin sisters that live together in a high school dorm. Although they are twins, they tend to act romantic toward each other, holding hands and going on dates. One day, Kanade sees Yukino hanging out with a new girl, Sakuya Kamiyama. Realizing how much time these two spend together, Kanade assumes they are dating, and she begins to distance herself from her sister. Yukino promptly notices and pleads with Kanade not to leave. In reality, Sakuya has only been asking for advice about Kanade, revealing her obsessive love. How will this love triangle play out? Serious girls love cuddling to a rather nauseating level.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Penguin Musume♥Heart ペンギン娘♥はぁと [Picture Magic] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Otaku Culture, School Comedy, Slice of Life, Ecchi Sakura Nankyoku is a total otaku. Due to a fluke, she gets elected as her class' Student Council President. Everything takes off from there into a series of crazy misadventures revolving around Sakura, her family, and her classmates. The kind of crazy nonsense that makes my head ache.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Naisho no Tsubomi ないしょのつぼみ [Studio Kikan] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Shoujo School Romance Tsubomi Tachibana is a fifth grader dealing with rather sensitive issues such as her mother's pregnancy, her first period and the strange feelings she has started to get when she has been around boys. It's a naïve school romance story. Should be good for elementary graders, but hardly anything to enjoy for grown-ups.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Hoshi no Umi no Amuri 星の海のアムリ [Studio Hibari] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  The 3D modeled anime is set in Year 019 of the Insonity Progressive Revolution - a future era in which mankind has evolved into a new species called Adapters. Three very young Adapter girls from Japan, China and France set out on a space adventure that will affect the rest of their species. Only slightly more advanced than Club Winx.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 4: Garan no Dou The Garden of Sinners Chapter 4: The Hollow Shrine 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第四章『伽藍の洞』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense  Following the events of Satsujin Kousatsu (Zen), Shiki Ryougi has been in a coma for two years due to a traffic accident. When she finally awakens, she has no memories of her past and is plagued by a profound loneliness. Even stranger, she notices dark lines encompassing the things around her, and if she touches them she can disassemble the object—something which completely terrifies her. Her friend, Mikiya Kokutou, enlists the help of Touko Aozaki, a mage who can help Shiki understand what her eyes—the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception"—are truly capable of and how to use them properly. Rewatched 2nd and then 4th, and it indeed helps when watched in chronological order. I started to have deja vu as character designs, sight superability, boy in glasses and fighting with strong monsters all resemble Tsukihime a lot, and mage supervisor paves the link to Fate Stay Night and Mahoutsukai no Yoru. And this series of light novels is indeed from Type-Moon and its authors. And it's ok for fans of the multiverse.   Overall Rating: 6/10   39. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 16: Chou Arashi wo Yobu Kinpoko no Yuusha クレヨンしんちゃん ちょ～嵐を呼ぶ 金矛の勇者 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Slice of Life, Ecchi A comical fantasy adventure on a fight against invaders from another world. The ruler of dark world "Don Kurai," Dark, plots to dominate the human world. There is a legend about three treasures and a hero in Don Kurai, and Dark takes over one of the three treasures, a bell of copper, but a man sent other two treasures (a spear of gold and a shield of silver) to the human world. Shinnosuke falls into Dark's trap and opens the door between the human world and Don Kurai, but he becomes the hero selected by the spear of gold. With the power of a girl from Don Kurai, Mata Tami, the Nohara Family transform into various things and fight against Dark. A very abstract episode, and that's even less enjoyable than usual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Indie Anibox: Selma Danbaekjil Coffee Indie Anibox: Selma's Protein Coffee 인디애니박스: 셀마의 단백질 커피 [Studio Dadashow] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Samurai Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi The 2008 animated omnibus Indie Anibox: Selma's Protein Coffee consists of three inventive short films from up-and-coming directors. Kim Woon Ki's kooky mystery thriller "Wanted" is set in a peaceful village suddenly disrupted by heavy rainfall and the appearance of a strange old woman named Selma. Yeon Sang Ho's 3-D animation "Love is Protein" is an inventive black comedy about three poor roommates who break their piggy banks to order fried chicken - only to discover their prospective meal is the son of a weeping chicken. Jang Hyung Yoon's surreal "A Coffee Vending Machine and Its Sword" follows a swordsman who reincarnates as a coffee vending machine and falls in love at first sight with the maintenance girl. Anthology of many small stories...   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Mianhada Saranghanda 미안하다 사랑한다 [Studio Meditation With a Pencil] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Drama  When hit KBS drama I'm Sorry, I Love You aired in 2004, it recorded high TV ratings, won the acclaim of critics, and quickly became one of the flagbearers of the Korean Wave. The tragic love story of Mu Hyeok (So Ji Sub of What Happened in Bali) and Eun Chae (Yim Soo Jung of Lump Sugar and I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK) made stars out of its leads and attracted an enormous fanbase throughout Asia. Two years later, G&G Entertainment released a 35-minute animated version of the drama, Between of One Year, consisting of highlights from the drama and new scenes dealing with the final moments of Eun Chae and Mu Hyeok's relationship. The script was supervised by the writer of the original live-action drama, Lee Kyung Hee. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   42. Geunyeoneun Yeppeotda Life is Cool 그녀는 예뻣다 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance  Three thirty-something friends meet each other for the first time in ten years. But when one of them goes on a blind date with a gorgeous girl, things become quite complicated. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   43. Druaga no Tou: The Aegis of Uruk - Jil no Bouken Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk - Jil's Adventure ドルアーガの塔 〜the Aegis of URUK〜 「ジルの冒険」 [Gonzo] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  This is a special "back-side" (ura) episode aired on GyaO simultaneously with original broadcast which features the background story from party's side instead of Jil's. I usually only include specials of the shows I liked or which I still can't understand. This is a nice background episode, but with just 20 minute length I can't rate it too high.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  11. kivandopulus
    I enjoyed both Detroit Metal City and Lucky☆Star: Original na Visual to Animation this season, but original work wins, as usual .    1. Natsume Yuujinchou Natsume's Book of Friends 夏目友人帳 [Brain's Base] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural Iyashikei, Mythology Due to an unusual ability to see strange creatures called youkai, Takashi Natsume has never fit in. Passed around from one foster home to another, he was left isolated and lonely. Over time, he has accepted that no one would ever believe him and has closed himself off to his current caretakers and classmates. When Natsume accidentally breaks an intangible barrier, he frees Madara—a mighty spirit in the form of a lucky cat. Madara notices that Natsume bears a remarkable resemblance to his late grandmother Reiko Natsume, an outcast girl who became known across the youkai world for creating the Book of Friends. It is now in Natsume's possession, along with its power to call upon the written names of the youkai Reiko had defeated. With no interest in its powers, Natsume decides to keep the book for the sake of his grandmother's memories and to protect it from scheming youkai. Therefore, he makes a deal with Madara: he will hand him the book once his time is up, and in turn, Madara will act as Natsume's unofficial bodyguard, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei. With his newfound goal of freeing those Reiko had sealed, Natsume's relationship with both youkai and humans slowly begins to improve. I could not make sense of Musashi and the same goes to Natsume Book of Friends. All those spirits, slow pace, episodic nature are great for falling to sleep, though.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses ゼロの使い魔 ～三美姫（プリンセッセ）の輪舞（ロンド）～ [ J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Harem, Isekai, School Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Following his brave sacrifice in the war against Albion, Saito Hiraga is knighted and treated as an aristocrat, something that proves difficult for Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. With their relationship no longer defined as the mighty Void mage and clueless familiar, she wonders what exactly this means for them. While venturing to a castle, Louise is ambushed by a powerful mage named Sheffield. Battling alone, the young mage nearly faces defeat until Saito makes his appearance. The mystical and unknown nature of Void magic seems to be at work in the battle, and Louise begins to believe in the possibility of another Void user. Moreover, she realizes that Saito's magical rune is fading, and so a new adventure begins as they search for the elf who revived Saito in the past. The relationship between former master and servant faces a new challenge as they work to restore the runes and redefine the bond which holds them together. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Sekirei セキレイ [Seven Arcs] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Seinen Harem, Super Power Action, Comedy, Ecchi Struggling yet brilliant 19-year-old Minato Sahashi has failed his college entrance exams for the second time, resulting in him being regarded as worthless by those around him. However, the course of his seemingly bleak future is altered dramatically when a beautiful, supernatural woman falls from the sky and into his life. That woman, Musubi, is a unique being known as a "Sekirei," a humanoid extraterrestrial with extraordinary abilities. These aliens are known for kissing humans carrying the Ashikabi gene in order to awaken additional latent powers deep within. Recognizing the potential within the seemingly insignificant youth, Musubi kisses the bewildered Minato, initiating a bond between the two of them. This drags him into the high-stakes world of the Sekirei, where he and his new partner must compete against others in a battle for survival called the "Sekirei Plan." However, unbeknownst to the contestants, there is far more at risk that what the competition initially entailed. Seems to be for practical use only as no other strong sides spotted.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Strike Witches ストライクウィッチーズ [Gonzo] (Finished 6/12) Tags:  Military Action, Sci-Fi, Ecchi In the year 1939, humanity was on the verge of destruction. Equipped with weapons of devastating power, a mysterious alien race, known as the Neuroi, began an invasion of the Earth, ravaging the planet, obliterating countries, and vanquishing human armies. To counter this seemingly unstoppable force, the world's powers united. A new device was produced, called the Striker Unit, capable of facing Neuroi technology. Girls equipped with the Striker Unit became known as the Witches, forming humanity's last line of defense. They began their fight against the Neuroi, utilizing their now-enhanced magical abilities, flaunting destructive weapons no human could manage. Fast forward to 1944—Yoshika Miyafuji is a young teenage girl who eventually decides to join the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, known as the "Strike Witches." With no formal training however, can Miyafuji learn to cooperate with her fellow Strike Witches? And if so, can she save humanity from the Neuroi onslaught? I don't see substance here - the usual training and fanservice recreation. Of course something will happen by the end, but the series is not about the story.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Haruka Nogizaka's Secret 乃木坂春香の秘密 [Diomedéa] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance  Haruka Nogizaka is the most popular student in the prestigious Hakujo Academy, possessing unparalleled beauty, talent, and influence. Unbeknownst to her fellow students, however, she keeps an embarrassing secret of being an otaku—something that can potentially destroy her elegant reputation. Unfortunately for Haruka, an encounter with the timid Yuuto Ayase in the school library spells the end of her well-kept secret. However, the two reach a mutual agreement with Yuuto promising to keep Haruka's secret, sparking an unexpected friendship between them. Nonetheless, with Haruka's status as the school celebrity and her friendly relationship with Yuuto, both of them are bound to be the subject of gossip everywhere they go! It was more or less ok when it whirled around otaku theme. But second half is just very banal dousei dating with artificial drama and convenient situations, and there's been an abundance of similar works already.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Tetsuwan Birdy Decode Birdy the Mighty: Decode 鉄腕バーディー (2008) [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi  While pursuing an alien fugitive, Birdy Cephon Altera—a bombastic police officer from the Space Federation—finds herself on Earth. Her target, Geega, has disguised himself as a human and assimilated into the fashion industry, so Birdy follows suit and joins a modeling agency, taking on the identity "Shion Arita." Her position as a rising model has her posing for photo shoots by day and chasing intergalactic criminals by night. Meanwhile, Tsutomu Senkawa, an average high school student, explores an abandoned building with his friend, and coincidentally, Birdy has tracked down Geega to the same building. Senkawa briefly witnesses the battle before being seized as a hostage by Geega. However, Birdy, oblivious, attacks Geega and accidentally kills Senkawa. Distraught, she quickly decides to save him by integrating his consciousness into her body. Now, Birdy and Senkawa must not only cohabitate the same body, but also balance Senkawa's high school life, Shion Arita's modeling career, and Birdy's increasingly dangerous job as a Federation officer. I liked Birdy Decode quite a lot when first watched it. But now I find second half not satisfactory, sadly.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Blade of the Immortal 無限の住人 [Bee Train] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Seinen Historical, Samurai Action, Adventure, Supernatural Manji is an infamous swordsman in feudal Japan who is known as the "Hundred Man Killer," as he has killed one hundred innocent men. However, there is something far more frightening than his ominous reputation: the fact that he is immortal. This is the handiwork of eight-hundred-year-old nun Yaobikuni, who placed bloodworms capable of healing almost any wound in Manji's body. To atone for his crimes, Manji resolves to kill one thousand evil men. Yaobikuni agrees to this proposal, saying that if he succeeds, she will undo his curse of immortality. Soon after this promise, Manji meets Rin Asano, a 16-year-old girl who requests Manji's assistance in killing those who slaughtered her parents. Initially reluctant, Manji refuses Rin's desperate plea. However, owing to her evident lack of strength, Manji changes his mind and agrees to protect Rin for four years. With this partnership set in stone, the two embark on a perilous journey of bloodshed, vengeance, and redemption, each to fulfill their own life's cause. Reminds me Ninja Scroll the most, but with samurai. Lots of fighting action with fantastic opponents packed, but there's not much besides it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Ikkitousen: Great Guardians 一騎当千: Great Guardians [Arms] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Martial Arts, School, Super Power Action, Ecchi Hakufu's dreams of participating in new fights and tournaments are put on hold as new obstacles block her path. Her friends have lost faith in her, new enemies appear, and a younger sister she never knew existed suddenly shows up on her doorstep. If Hakufu ever hopes to compete worldwide, she's going to have to deal with her issues at home first. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin Sands of Destruction ワールド・デストラクション ～世界撲滅の六人～ [Production I.G] (Finished 4/13) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Spinoff based on the Nintendo DS RPG game by SEGA, released in Japan July, 2008. In a world where humans serve as livestock for the ruling beastman, and where sand fills the roles of water and fire. Kyrie is recruited by the "World Destruction Committee" to assist in putting an end to their world. Kyrie alone holds the power needed to do it. Setting is rather ridiculous with teddy bear and warrior girl who do not know what they're doing and also racism between beast humanoids and humans. And since there's no direction it's just random adventures that are going to suddenly lead somewhere by the end.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Koihime†Musou 恋姫†無双 [Doga Kobo] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi After witnessing the death of her family at the hands of bandits, Unchou Kan'u has devoted her life to protecting the innocent by exterminating any group of bandits she comes across. Over time, Kan'u's deeds become famous throughout the land—even if she herself remains unknown. During her travels, she runs across a young girl, Chouhi Yokutoku, whose parents suffered a similar fate as Kan'u's. Finding companionship through their similar pasts, the two girls take a vow of sisterhood and continue to wander the land, determined to bring peace to wherever their journey takes them. During Kan'u and Chouhi's journey, they meet and travel with several people who are sympathetic to their cause, such as the noble Chouun Shiryuu, the headstrong Bachou Mouki, and the calculating Shokatsuryou Koumei. From problems with local lords to groups of ravaging bandits, Kan'u and her friends do what they can to make life a little easier for those in need, wherever they may be. Basically, I really like serious beginning. But it gets more loose and unserious the more it goes, and I can't enjoy it from that point,    Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Slayers Revolution スレイヤーズ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Having lost the Sword of Light in the previous battle, Lina and Gourry continue their journey in search of a replacement weapon. On the way, the two of them meet up with Amelia and Zelgadis in the kingdom of Luvinagard while taunting some pirates. Lina is happy to reunite with her old friends, but appearing before her is Luvinagard's Inspector of the Special Investigative Unit; a man called Wizer. However, Lina is amazed at his unusual behavior... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Hidamari Sketch x 365 ひだまりスケッチ×365 [Shaft] (Finished 1/13) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei, School, Visual Arts Comedy, Slice of Life After passing her entrance exam, Yuno enrolls at Yamabuki High School as part of an art degree. She stays at the Hidamari Apartments along with best friend Miyako, and seniors Hiro and Sae. Each episode follows a day in her life as she mingles with her friends, close peers, overly hyper teachers and closely follows the mundane lives of the high school girls. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Mahoutsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora Someday's Dreamers II: Sora 魔法遣いに大切なこと ～夏のソラ～ [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Shounen Iyashikei Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Get ready for a second magical journey to the world of Someday's Dreamers, where spellcasting is a profession that requires both the proper training AND a license. It's to get that license and fulfill a promise made to her late father that young Sora Suzuki has made the long journey from her distant home in the countryside town of Biei to the big city of Tokyo. It's a daunting challenge, but she's got a little bit of talent, a charming personality and, most important of all, the promise of an internship! What she ISN'T expecting, though, is how different life in the city will be, especially the people themselves. While she gets along with the confident Asagi, Kuroda and the gentle Hiyori, she's completely confused with the mysterious boy Gouta. And yet, as a result of their internships they keep ending up in the same situations and slowly learning to understand more about each other than they ever imagined possible! The mood and direction feel a lot like prequel, and I dropped that one. This slow SOL about regulated magic just fails to impress and is genuinely boring.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo Ryoko's Case File 薬師寺涼子の怪奇事件簿 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 2/13) Tags: School Fantasy Based on a series of light novels written by Tanaka Yoshiki and illustrated by Kakinouchi Narumi. The story revolves around Ryouko Yakushiji, a 27-year-old multilingual investigator that graduated from Tokyo University's elite Department of Law, and the bizarre cases she faces while working for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Yakushiji not only has to deal with supernatural beings in her line of work, but also her rival Yukiko Muromachi, another equally talented and beautiful police investigator. Some mix of detective and superagent. Don't see anything special about it apart from atmosphere.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Ultraviolet: Code 044 ウルトラヴァイオレットコード044 [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  044 becomes the strongest female soldier excelling in combat through gene manipulation using a virus. However, in exchange for her abilities, her days become numbered. The next mission of the government is to destroy a bloodthirsty squad, Phage, and its leader King. In her battle, she encounters a Phage soldier, Luka, and finds herself unable to kill him. She wonders why, but as a result, Daxus Jr., the leader of the government group, regards her as a traitor. She is targeted by both Phage and the government, and she runs away with the injured Luka. Very strange and unfocused action that I only finished for the sake of cyberpunk motives.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Mission-E  [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/12) Tags: School Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Chinami and her friends have formed an organization called OZ, with the financial backing of the Kujo Group. Their goal is to peacefully integrate people with Type-E abilities into society, and oppose the Foundation, an organization which seeks to capture and control Type-E users for their own mysterious purposes. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Qin Shi Mingyue: Ye Jin Tianming Qin's Moon: Night Ends - Daylight 秦时明月之夜尽天明 [Sparkly Key Animation Studio] (Finished 1/18) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts Action, Fantasy In the second season, Emperor Qin sends Quicksand to destroy Machinery City, the home of the Mohist School. At the same time, Duanmu Rong sends the three kids, Tianming, Shao Yu, and Gao Yu, into the forbidden grounds of the Mohist School, a place where nobody could enter without permission. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Eve no Jikan Time of Eve イヴの時間 [Studio Rikka] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Sci-Fi, Slice of Life  In future Japan, in a time when android housekeepers have become commonplace, society strictly abides by the Three Laws of Robotics, which all androids must follow. Under the influence of the Robot Ethics Committee, androids are treated the same way as lesser technology, such as household appliances. However, a minority with an adoration for androids exists, categorized as "android-holics," and are shunned by the general public. Rikuo Sakisaka was raised to accept society's precept about androids, and is perfectly aware that they are not human. That is, until the day he discovers a strange message buried within the activity logs of his household android, Sammy. This leads him to Eve no Jikan, a cafe with only one rule that its patrons must adhere to: there must be no distinction made between humans and androids. Curiosity drives Rikuo to learn more about the shop, and he attempts to unearth the reason behind Sammy's peculiar behavior. It's basically barternder, plus androids as half of customers. First, it's visually rather unappealing. Can't say that the whole resurrection of theme "Do androids dream" or any of short stories impressed me .   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Bounen no Xamdou Xam'd: Lost Memories 亡念のザムド [Bones] (Finished 12/26) Tags: Military Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Sentan Island is a small island surrounded by the Yuden Sea. It exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Our hero, Akiyuki Takehara, lives on Sentain Island along with his mother Fusa. He is currently separated from his father, the town doctor Ryuzo, but the bond between father and son remains. One day, after taking Ryuzo the lunch that Fusa has made for him as usual, Akiyuki arrives at school, where he is caught up in an explosion along with his friends, Haru and Furuichi. The explosion produces a mysterious light, which enters Akiyuki's arm, causing him excruciating pain. He's given no time to understand it, however, as the white-haired girl who rode on the bus with him guides him to a power unlike anything he's ever known. Genre is... wasting time on useless talks, random spontaneous drama and Gundam-like eternal conflict of two similar human civilizations with odd characters exclaiming that they are both alike...   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Detroit Metal City Detroit Metal City: The Animated Series デトロイト・メタル・シティ [Studio 4°C] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Gag Humor, Music Comedy Dominating the world of indie music, Detroit Metal City (DMC) is a popular death metal band known for its captivatingly dark and crude style. Its extravagant lead singer, Johannes Krauser II, is especially infamous as a demonic being who has risen from the fiery pits of hell itself in order to bring the world to its knees and lord over all mortals—or at least that's what he's publicized to be. Unbeknownst to his many worshippers, Krauser II is just the alter ego of an average college graduate named Souichi Negishi. Although he is soft-spoken, peace-loving, and would rather listen to Swedish pop all day, he must participate in DMC's garish concerts in order to make ends meet. Detroit Metal City chronicles Negishi's hilarious misadventures as he attempts to juggle his hectic band life, a seemingly budding romance, and dealing with his incredibly obsessive and dedicated fans. DMC contains two small stories in most episodes, so it feels like a collection of longer sketches rather than an integral work for me. Humor is basically the same all the time - contrast between tender protagonist's nature and rude expression, but actual situations vary greatly and feel really fresh. I think minor masterpiece is a just right score as this is not a work for everyone.   Overall Rating: 7/10   21. Lucky☆Star: Original na Visual to Animation Lucky☆Star OVA らき☆すた OVA（オリジナルなビジュアルとアニメーション） [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: CGDCT, School, Video Game Comedy The OVA features six separate stories revolving around the cast, some of which border on the bizarre; one of which is an MMORPG environment being played by Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Nanako Kuroi, and another in which Kagami has a "suggestive" dream about Konata. It's just 40 minutes long, but it's hilarious.   Overall Rating: 7/10   22. Batman: Gotham Knight バットマン ゴッサムナイト [Bee Train, Production I.G, Madhouse, Studio 4°C] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Adventure  Anime-inspired direct-to-DVD anthology film. Comprised of six short stories, from diverse creators, including Academy Award-nominated Josh Olsen (A History of Violence), Batman Begins writer David S. Goyer, and comics scribe Brian Azzarello. It's planned for a release window of two to four weeks prior to the release of The Dark Knight, and would bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It's darker than usual, with good visuals except for character designs, and stories are so-so.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Quiz Magic Academy: The Original Animation クイズマジックアカデミー ~The Original Animation~ [AIC PLUS+] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Action, Comedy, Fantasy There is a magical academy that is located on a floating island in the sky. This OVA is about the students of one of the academy's classes, who's only chance not to fail the semester is to win a competition where they must show off their magic skills. A hectic short magical academy episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel 快盗天使ツインエンジェル  [Nomad] (Finished 2/2) Tags: - Haruka Minazuki and Aoi Kannazuki are freshman high school students and best friends. During the day they help with school activities but at night they thwart enemies like Black Auction and other villains as Red Angel and Blue Angel, the Twin Angel team. A mediocre twin mahou shoujo story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Cobra The Animation: The Psycho-Gun COBRA THE ANIMATION ザ・サイコガン [Magic Bus] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi When Utopia More discovers an ancient record that holds the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe, she becomes the target of the ruthless Gypsy Doc of the Pirate Guild. Utopia finds herself saved by the easy-going yet legendary space pirate, Cobra, whose custom made Psychogun makes him a force to be reckoned with. Together, the two of them attempt to stop Gypsy Doc (along with Cobra's revived arch-nemesis, Crystal Boy) and his efforts to steal the record and use its secrets to rule the universe. I just hope no feminist ever watches this as there's a lot of macho cringe involved.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Toshi Densetsu Monogatari Hikiko 都市伝説物語　ひきこ [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Horror Story: 3D CG-animated movie about Hikiko, who is a character of a Japanese urban legend. She was violently treated all the time by her parents and classmates at the elementary school and she's extremely ugly due to the constant violence. To revenge, she caught students from elementary school and drag them on the floor until they're badly mutilated. When Revsersing Hikiko's full name 森妃姫子(Mori Hikiko) gives 引き籠もり(hikikomori), which means Social Withdrawal. Rather mediocre CG horror.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Mushrambo (2008) マシュランボー (2008) [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Kokoro wo Chikara ni: The story follows the human girl Yakumo, who awakens from cryogenic sleep in a devastated world destroyed by genetically engineered lifeforms, Enterrans. With the help of a few friendly Enterrans, she goes on a journey to find more human survivors and bring peace between the two factions. Owaranai Chikyuu: After restoring the world to order, one threat remains for Yakumo and her friends. The cause of the war itself, hidden deep inside a meteorite that crashed at the start of the war, a cause that's about to resurface. Old action series was bad, no idea why even worse OVA was needed.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Ponyo 崖の上のポニョ [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Award Winning, Fantasy  A goldfish sneaks away from home and floats off on the back of a jellyfish. After getting stuck in a glass jar, she drifts to the shore where she is freed by Sousuke, a five-year-old boy who lives with his mother Lisa in a house by the sea while his father Koichi works on a fishing boat. After healing a cut on Sousuke's finger by licking it, the goldfish is named Ponyo by her new friend. Unknown to Sousuke, Ponyo already has a name and a family. Her father Fujimoto, a sorcerer who forsook his humanity to live underwater, searches frantically for his daughter Brunhilde. When found and captured, Ponyo rejects her birth name and declares that she wants to become a human. Using the power received from Sousuke's blood, she grows arms and legs and escapes to the surface once more. But the magic released into the ocean causes an imbalance in nature, causing the Moon to start falling out of orbit and the tides to grow dangerously stronger. Reunited with Ponyo, Sousuke must pass an ancient test to restore order in the world and let his companion live on as a human. It was better than expected as expectations level has toned up greatly for previous works, but it's still about small children, so I could not enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 5: Mujun Rasen The Garden of Sinners Chapter 5: Paradox Spiral 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第五章『矛盾螺旋』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense In November 1998, a double homicide occurs at the newly constructed Ogawa apartment complex in the heart of Mifune City. The murderer, Tomoe Enjou, has fled in a panic. To his astonishment, he is not pursued by the police and news of the incident has not been reported through media outlets. After Shiki Ryougi defends Tomoe from a group of thugs, she allows him to use her residence as a hideout. However, a few days later, Tomoe is shaken to discover that his mother is alive, even though he is convinced that he killed her. Coincidentally, Mikiya Kokutou is investigating a tip that his associate Touko Aozaki receives regarding the murder at the unique apartment complex. As he uncovers more information about the incident, Mikiya takes a particular interest in Tomoe. Deciding to investigate him further, Mikiya soon discovers the disturbing truth of the foreboding Ogawa complex. The fifth installment of the Kara no Kyoukai film series, Mujun Rasen combines an intricately constructed mystery with established themes and characters to produce a dark, thought-provoking story. New protagonist Enjou shares his load of psychological problems, plus there's one more magician to deal with. More action than usual, same torn  average quality storytelling.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Koukaku Kidoutai 2.0 攻殻機動隊2.0 [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Detective, Mecha, Psychological Action, Sci-Fi Set in the year 2029 and following World Wars III and IV, a Japanese-led Asian block dominates world affairs. The alliance maintains its international supremacy through its elite security force whose cybernetically enhanced operatives tackle an array of hi-tech terrorists and other threats to international security. These augmented agents can "ghost hack" (i.e., download their consciousness) via the now omnipresent internet into other machines and human/machine cross breeds. Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cybernetically augmented female agent, has been tracking a virtual entity known as the Puppet Master with her crack squad of security agents. The shape-shifting Puppet Master, a rogue creation of a rival agency of the security apparatus, has concluded that it is a life form in its own right, "born in sea of information," and requested political asylum and true physical existence in defiance of its creators. I don't see improvements, and couple CG scenes break immersion. And the score for needless remake is not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   31. The Sky Crawlers スカイ・クロラ [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Award Winning, Drama In an alternate timeline, the world has seemingly achieved peace. Bereft of international conflicts, wars are now waged between private corporations in place of peaceful nations. Yuuichi Kannami, a recent transfer in Area 262, simply does his job as a contracted fighter pilot. However, the more time he spends at his new base, the more mysteries come to light. The Sky Crawlers exhibits this reality through the eyes of Kannami as he endeavors to understand the "Kildren," humans genetically altered to be teenagers forever with faster reflexes, and his predecessor, the ace pilot known as "Teacher." However, what troubles Kannami the most is how all this connects to the base commander, Suito Kusanagi. Area 262 has the answers, but the truth comes with a price the young pilot may not be ready to pay. Slow development, some air combat duels, some anti-militarism. Reminds Patlabor 2 movie in nature.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  12. kivandopulus
    Toradora! is the queeen of tsundere and a great anime, but Tentai Senshi Sunred is one of the best parody comedies out there despite seemingly low popularity.    1. Toradora! とらドラ！  [J.C.Staff] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Love Polygon, School Drama, Romance Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle high school student with a love for housework; but in contrast to his kind nature, he has an intimidating face that often gets him labeled as a delinquent. On the other hand is Taiga Aisaka, a small, doll-like student, who is anything but a cute and fragile girl. Equipped with a wooden katana and feisty personality, Taiga is known throughout the school as the "Palmtop Tiger." One day, an embarrassing mistake causes the two students to cross paths. Ryuuji discovers that Taiga actually has a sweet side: she has a crush on the popular vice president, Yuusaku Kitamura, who happens to be his best friend. But things only get crazier when Ryuuji reveals that he has a crush on Minori Kushieda—Taiga's best friend! Toradora! is a romantic comedy that follows this odd duo as they embark on a quest to help each other with their respective crushes, forming an unlikely alliance in the process. The best tsundere concept realization. But can't call it intellectual and that limits the score.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. Clannad: After Story CLANNAD〜AFTER STORY〜 クラナド アフターストーリー [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Drama, Romance, Supernatural  Clannad: After Story, the sequel to the critically acclaimed slice-of-life series Clannad, begins after Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa graduate from high school. Together, they experience the emotional rollercoaster of growing up. Unable to decide on a course for his future, Tomoya learns the value of a strong work ethic and discovers the strength of Nagisa's support. Through the couple's dedication and unity of purpose, they push forward to confront their personal problems, deepen their old relationships, and create new bonds. Time also moves on in the Illusionary World. As the plains grow cold with the approach of winter, the Illusionary Girl and the Garbage Doll are presented with a difficult situation that reveals the World's true purpose. Based on the visual novel by Key and produced by Kyoto Animation, Clannad: After Story is an impactful drama highlighting the importance of family and the struggles of adulthood. I rate as trash only harmful series, like this one.   Overall Rating: 4/10   3. Kuroshitsuji Black Butler 黒執事 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 4/24) Tags: Shounen Historical, Mythology Action, Comedy, Mystery, Supernatural Young Ciel Phantomhive is known as "the Queen's Guard Dog," taking care of the many unsettling events that occur in Victorian England for Her Majesty. Aided by Sebastian Michaelis, his loyal butler with seemingly inhuman abilities, Ciel uses whatever means necessary to get the job done. But is there more to this black-clad butler than meets the eye? In Ciel's past lies a secret tragedy that enveloped him in perennial darkness—during one of his bleakest moments, he formed a contract with Sebastian, a demon, bargaining his soul in exchange for vengeance upon those who wronged him. Today, not only is Sebastian one hell of a butler, but he is also the perfect servant to carry out his master's orders—all the while anticipating the delicious meal he will eventually make of Ciel's soul. As the two work to unravel the mystery behind Ciel's chain of misfortunes, a bond forms between them that neither heaven nor hell can tear apart. I don't see butlers as interesting subjects for a story, and all the boys love references only aggravate things.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Toaru Majutsu no Index A Certain Magical Index とある魔術の禁書目録 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Academy City, Japan, is at the forefront of science. Besides being 30 years ahead of the world technologically, more than three-fourths of this peculiar city's population consists of students developing their psychic abilities as espers in various institutions. Among these students is Touma Kamijou, a high school boy with the lowest psychic rank of zero, but with a mysterious power no scientist can understand: "Imagine Breaker," which allows him to negate other supernatural abilities. This, however, doesn't affect Kamijou's life in the least as he plays his role as a regular teenager; that is, until he meets the strange Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a young girl who has memorized the entirety of the forbidden grimoires, and now a dangerous organization is hunting Index down. With several magicians looking to harm the girl, Kamijou will defend his new companion at all costs as he discovers a strange new realm of the supernatural. I tried it a lot of times, and it failed to arise any interest. Quality is above average, but contents is totally alien to common sense.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Rosario to Vampire Capu2 Rosario + Vampire Capu2 ロザリオとバンパイア Capu2 [Gonzo] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Harem, School, Vampire Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi It has been one year since Tsukune Aono enrolled at Youkai Academy, and since then his life has taken an interesting turn. In addition to being the only human at a school for monsters, he has attracted a bevy of beautiful women who want him all for themselves: the sexy succubus Kurumu Kurono; Yukari Sendou, a witch; stalker and yuki-onna Mizore Shirayuki; and Moka Akashiya, a kind vampire who, when her rosary is removed, reveals a darker personality. But soon, trouble visits Youkai Academy in the form of Moka's younger sister, Kokoa Shuzen. She is furious that her "true older sister" is sealed within Moka's rosary, and vows to bring out Moka's darker self. However, Kokoa's thoughtless actions may affect more than just her sister... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Vampire Knight Guilty ヴァンパイア騎士〈ナイト〉Guilty [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Love Polygon, Vampire Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural When the missing Zero Kiryuu returns to Cross Academy, Yuuki Cross is relieved to see him safe, but finds that Zero has changed in more ways than one. As a result of choices he made, Zero is plagued by visions, and he seeks to uncover the reason behind them—unaware that the answers may be much closer than he thinks. Soon Yuuki also begins to be tormented by ghastly hallucinations, and she seeks an explanation about her shrouded past from the only one who can provide clarity: Pureblood vampire Kaname Kuran, who is closest to her heart. But what will happen when the truth is finally revealed? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. ChäoS;HEAd カオスヘッド [Madhouse] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Harem, Psychological Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Throughout Shibuya, a series of murders dubbed the "New Generation Madness" gained widespread attention As these crimes gained infamy, they became a hot topic of discussion among the people of the area. Nonetheless, these "New Gen" murders do not capture the interest of Takumi Nishijou, a high school otaku who frequently experiences delusions and feels that he is constantly being watched. Having no concern for the real world, Takumi spends his time playing online games and watching anime. However, his ordinary life is disrupted when he receives a horrifying image of a man staked to a wall from a user named Shogun. After calming himself at an internet cafe, Takumi sees the exact same murder scene as the image portrayed happen right before his eyes, along with a pink-haired girl covered in blood calling out his name. Conflicted with the nature of reality, Takumi finds it difficult to judge where to place his trust as he gets caught up in the "New Gen" murders, believing that the murderer is out to get him. I think I said about visual novel already, but I read/watched both and I consider both to be tasteless crazy mess without a normal denouement even in the best case scenario, so I would not recommend it entirely.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Skip Beat! スキップ・ビート！ [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Shoujo Love Polygon, Showbiz Comedy, Drama, Romance Day in and day out, Kyouko Mogami works multiple jobs to support her childhood friend, Shoutarou "Shou" Fuwa, in his rise to stardom as an idol. She never complains about her way of life, as she is deeply infatuated with Shou and would go to the ends of the world for him. However, her heart is broken when she overhears Shou talk about how he views her as nothing more than a maid he cares little for. Angered over being used, Kyouko flies into a rage and swears to get revenge on her former crush by entering the world of showbiz to surpass him. Joining the relentless and unforgiving entertainment industry proves to be a challenge, as she continuously meets people who force her out of her comfort zone. But for the sake of vengeance, Kyouko is determined to push herself and rise to the top. I like intelligent shoujo while this one is yet another stereotypical one with impulsive girl showing off for the sake of revenge, and without empathy for main heroine watching it is useless.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Ga-Rei: Zero Ga-Rei-Zero 喰霊–零– [AIC Spirits, asread.] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Action, Supernatural, Suspense In Japan, there exists a government agency known as the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division (SDCD), whose duty is to protect the citizens from creatures unseen. They are able to dispatch these monsters swiftly and without alerting the general public. But currently, they face a different challenge: the betrayal of one of their own. After the death of her mother several years ago, Kagura Tsuchimiya has been fostered by the Isayama family and forms a close sister-like bond with their daughter Yomi. The two become inseparable, and together they work for the SDCD as highly skilled exorcists. However, as the stress and consequences of their sacred duty weigh on them both, and family politics come into play, Kagura and Yomi begin to slowly drift apart. One of them grows earnestly into her role as an exorcist, and the other heads down a dark path from which there may be no redemption. It's bloody fighting action that tries to be mysterious, but inevitably ends up disappointing as there's not much essence.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. One Outs ワンナウツ [Madhouse] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Psychological, Team Sports Toua Tokuchi is a prodigy when it comes to both baseball and gambling. Pitching nothing but mediocre fastballs, he has made a name for himself by attaining 499 consecutive victories in the game of "One Outs," a one-on-one showdown between a pitcher and a batter. Despite his remarkable abilities, however, Tokuchi sees the sport as nothing more than a way to make some quick money. When Hiromichi Kojima, a legendary hitter for the Saikyou Saitama Lycaons, witnesses Tokuchi's skills firsthand, he realizes that the man might be exactly what the team needs to get out of their slump. Determined to recruit Tokuchi no matter what, Kojima places his own career on the line and defeats Tokuchi at his own specialty—One Outs. Forced to become a Lycaon, Tokuchi soon finds himself at odds with the team's owner, Tsuneo Saikawa. After Saikawa refuses to give him a reasonable salary, Tokuchi proposes a special contract: pitching an out will earn him five million yen, but giving up a run will cost him fifty million. With every game having the potential to either make or break him, will Tokuchi be able to outwit those who stand in his way? Better than average spokon.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Inazuma Eleven イナズマイレブン [OLM] (Finished 1/127) Tags: Super Power, Team Sports While other schools in Japan compete for the title of being the best soccer team in the country, Raimon Middle School's soccer club, Inazuma Eleven, struggles to rise from the verge of being disbanded. The grandson of Inazuma Eleven's first generation goalkeeper and captain of the team, Mamoru Endou, takes the challenge of kicking the long neglected club back into shape. To do this, he'll need a little help and more than a little luck. Mamoru Endou finds hope in the hands of Shuuya Gouenji, a brilliant young player who has given up on soccer. Mamoru is determined to get Shuuya and other new recruits to join his team, no matter what the cost. Is his passion and determination enough to treat the ailing club? Or is there no more hope for the team? Childish spokon with all kinds of tropes collected together.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Michiko to Hatchin Michiko & Hatchin ミチコとハッチン [Manglobe] (Finished 22/22) Tags: Action, Adventure  Under the unrelenting heat of the South American sun, hardened criminal Michiko Malandro breaks out of a high security prison for the fourth time in search of a man from her past. Michiko finds a clue in the form of Hana Morenos, a young girl trapped under the fists of her abusive foster family. In her powerlessness, Hana fantasizes about the day when she is finally whisked away from her captors by her very own Prince Charming. Little does she know that her fated prince would turn out to be the buxom and husky convict who charges in atop a stolen motorbike, claiming to be her mother. The unlikely duo chase down their dreams in the sun-drenched land of Diamandra, navigating through the cacophony of betrayal, poverty, and child exploitation rings hiding in plain sight. However, wind of Michiko's manhunt soon reaches the ears of criminal syndicate Monstro Preto, and a storm of gang warfare begins brewing over the horizon… Michiko to Hatchin is the story of vibrant people and their clashing agendas, and of all the unlikely human connections drawn together by one elusive man. I can't stop getting surprised by the absolute mediocrity and impotence of scenario writers. Genre is wasting time on stereotypes, bickering and useless emotions expressions. It's a huge void that should have never happened.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Kannagi Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens かんなぎ [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen School, Visual Arts Comedy, Supernatural When he was a child and out catching bugs, Jin Mikuriya fatefully encountered a deity, which became the inspiration for his newest piece of art: The Tree Spirit. Trying to think of a way to bring the wooden statue to school, Jin believes that the rest of the day will be spent admiring his work. But before he can even lift it, the sculpture begins to absorb the earth around it and explodes into a cute girl! The girl, Nagi, who introduces herself as a guardian of the earth, proclaims that Jin must help her get rid of the "impurities" that plague the land. But alas, due to Nagi's tree being cut down and her powers completely drained, she finds herself cleansing the impurities with only a magical wand! With their lives now intertwined, Jin and Nagi find ways to learn more about one another through the endless amounts of daily antics. Crazy girls are fooling around and fighting for protagonist attention, of course. And I don't find even humor good, so it's just a cute collection of familiar stamps.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. ef: A Tale of Melodies. ef - a tale of melodies.  [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural  In a story set years in the past, Himura Yuu is a studious and diligent young man intent solely on maintaining his top academic position at Otowa Academy. One day, he meets a mysterious girl named Amamiya Yuuko, who, to his surprise, recognizes him. Memories of a distant childhood, memories rather left forgotten... meeting Yuuko again will force Yuu to confront the regrets and sorrows of their collective pasts and presents. In the present, Kuze Shuuichi may seem like a womanizer, but upon closer inspection, is a man who would rather be left alone. Hayama Mizuki, however, is not the type of girl who would let him be, especially after hearing the beautiful sounds of his violin performance. As Mizuki attempts to become closer to him, Kuze attempts to push her away—the tale of their budding relationship is darkened with undertones of an imminent tragedy. What an unfocused mess. Now there are two pairs and more additional characters to waste time and blabber utter nonsense. And since nothing is really told during the course of full season with artistic means, some more incoherent juvenile mess is just thrown by the end - search and you'll find happiness! That's a form of writer's self-satisfaction, and I definitely am not going to promote this kind of emptiness.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Casshern Sins キャシャーン SINS [Madhouse, Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Psychological Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi In a distant future, Earth has become a wasteland and humanity as we know it has died out. All that remains are sentient robots. They were supposed to be able to live forever—until the one called Luna died and the Ruin started. Their bodies will rust, and there is nothing that can be done to fix it. Now the robots are left only to contemplate their deaths, kept going only by the rumor that if they eat the one called Casshern, they will gain immortality. Casshern knows nothing about his past, why he exists, or what he is, but he must find out, or he will face the constant torment of being hunted by robots who don't want to die. Casshern leaves death wherever he goes, but he must face it if he is to find out the truth of this world. Ancient alternative versions were hardly watchable at all. This one is watchable. Just not interesting and with those retro designs and elements that are weighting it down.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Yozakura Quartet 夜桜四重奏 ～ヨザクラカルテット～ [Nomad] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Super Power Action, Comedy, Supernatural The world of Yozakura Quartet is actually not one, but two worlds: one of humans, and one of youkai. Despite appearing mostly human, youkai may have animal like physical traits, along with a number of special abilities. Normally youkai are confined to their world, but some have found their way into the realm of humanity. As a symbol of peace, and a bridge between the two realms, a city was constructed within the protective barrier of seven magical trees, otherwise known as the Seven Pillars. This city of Sakurashin is home to both humans and youkai, with the peace between them maintained by the Hizumi Life Counseling Office. The director of this office is Akina Hiizumi, a teenager with the inherited family ability to perform “tuning,” which can send harmful youkai back to their world permanently. He is aided by a group of girls, including the town’s 16 year old youkai mayor, Hime Yarizakura, their town’s announcer and resident telepath, Ao Nanami, and Kotoha Isone, a half-youkai who can summon objects just by stating the object’s name. As new residents enter and mysterious events begin to take place, this quartet of protectors and their closest friends must continue to guard the city of Sakurashin, and maintain the fragile balance of peace between humans and youkai. It's ok when shrine maidens have superpowers for the sake of developing the plot, but here it IS the plot. Absolutely zero substance, shallow unfocused mess without ending.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka あかね色に染まる坂 [TNK] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Yuuhi Katagiri is not your average girl – she's the treasured daughter of the Katagiri family. She's generally kept under strict supervision, but one day ends up walking home from school on her own. This proves to be instant trouble when a group of boys start harassing her. Junichi Nagase, who was on his way home from a convenience store, sees the troubled Yuuhi and comes to her rescue. One of the boys recognized Junichi as the famed "Geno Killer" and they dash off. Yuuhi thanks Junichi and when she asked for his name, he just waves and leaves. Of course, he regrets trying to act cool in front of the beautiful girl right away, wishing he asked her name. The following day, a transfer student joins Junichi's class – it's Yuuhi! She calls Junichi out as the "Geno Killer", the only name she remembers him by, and rumors about the two spread quickly. Matters are made worse when Junichi kisses Yuuhi due to a misunderstanding. And on top of all that, it turns out that Junichi is Yuuhi's fiancé! Yuuhi doesn't see Junichi as someone worthy. But, she could not go against her father's wishes. The only thing that Yuuhi can do is live with Junichi in the house he shares with his little sister Minato, and prove that Junichi is not worthy to be her husband. Will she succeed in proving his unworthiness, or will she fall in love on the way? Typical Feng harem fluff that is not worth the time discussing it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 Second Season Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Second Season 機動戦士ガンダム00 セカンドシーズン [Sunrise] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year 2311 AD, a world that once saw itself full of inter-continental conflict now stands unified, led by the Earth Sphere Federation (ESF). The ESF established a preventative military task force known as the A-Laws, tasking them with shutting down violent terrorist organizations. As they gain more and more legal authority, the A-Laws begin to twist the law to fit their own agenda, ruling the citizens of Earth with a heavy hand. In response to the fascistic behavior of the A-Laws, the anti-terrorist group Celestial Being reappears. Led by state-of-the-art mobile suits known as Gundam, the pilots of Celestial Being wage a new war with the A-Laws, aiming to stop their tyrannical abuse of power. Setsuna F. Seiei, pilot of the Gundam Exia, helps to lead the charge along with his fellow Gundam Meisters Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde. But in the process, Setsuna stumbles upon a conspiratorial plot spearheaded by a new faction, the Innovators, and must contend with his own old wounds and ghosts of the past in order to save a world that despises him. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Nodame Cantabile: Paris-hen のだめカンタービレ 巴里編 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Josei Adult Cast, Music Comedy, Romance Shinichi Chiaki conquers his fear of flying, and Megumi "Nodame" Noda's exceptional performance at a piano competition earns her an invitation to study at the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris. The pair go to Paris together to take the next step in their careers: Chiaki as a new rising conductor under the wing of the great maestro Franz von Stresemann, and Nodame as a pupil of the esteemed piano professor Charles Auclair. But, of course, the music world is much bigger than the two of them could have ever imagined. Chiaki and Nodame, alongside old friends and new rivals, must fight and persevere to reach the dazzling musical heights that await them while never losing sight of what matters most. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Hakushaku to Yousei Earl and Fairy 伯爵と妖精 [Artland] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Shoujo Historical, Mythology Adventure, Fantasy, Romance In the nineteenth century, we find Lydia Carlton living in Scotland, making a living as a fairy doctor. She is one of those rare humans who can see and communicate with fairies. But no one believes her. However, Edgar is in need of someone with a vast knowledge of fairy lore, and Lydia is just that person. After rescuing her, he becomes her employer, but there are many secrets and emotions that seem to follow Edgar, who claims to be the Blue Knight's Earl. Tag Reverse Harem is missing, I would not even pick it up otherwise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Tales of the Abyss テイルズ オブ ジ アビス [Sunrise] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy  The world of Auldrant is bound by the Score, a series of prophecies from centuries past that dictate the world's future. It is considered an absolute fate that everyone lives by—even people whose actions lead to bloodshed and tears. Using magical abilities known as the Fonic Arts, a war between the nation of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and the Malkuth Empire is waged in hopes of bringing the Score's foreseen utopia to life. Tales of the Abyss follows Luke von Fabre, who spends his days locked away in his manor after being kidnapped and losing memories as a child. One day, while honing his swordsmanship, a woman named Tear attempts to assassinate his master. Luke defends him, but the clash results in the two being teleported to a distant land. Luke and Tear’s journey back quickly escalates into a quest that will either free the world from the Score's chains or destroy it completely. This RPG series strikes me as super boring and banal. Gameplay elements usually make it much more interesting, but with the type of battles in this series it's hopeless. Still it can be technically considered above average level.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Shikabane Hime: Aka Corpse Princess: Aka 屍姫 赫 [Gainax, feel.] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen Action, Horror, Supernatural  Living at a shrine with other orphans, Ouri Kagami is no stranger to corpses. But when he sees the patron of his orphanage, Keisei Tagami, seemingly revive the scarred corpse of schoolgirl Makina Hoshimura, he cannot help but feel incredibly shocked. Intrigued by the mysterious circumstances surrounding Makina, he learns that she is a Shikabane Hime—an undead being tasked with eliminating others like her who pose a threat to society. As Ouri goes about his daily life, his inexplicable run-ins with her are shrouded in abnormality. But as each encounter grows more intense, the two are brought closer together, and it may be their intertwining fates that hold the key to unveiling the secrets behind the world of Shikabanes. Never tried corpse party since I consider RPG-maker and pixels to be below acceptable level of quality. But this anime is rather unimpressive as instead of school horror we get couple superpower humans fighting superpower monsters. No good plot, no good characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Shugo Chara!! Doki しゅごキャラ！！どきっ [Satelight] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Shoujo Mahou Shoujo, School Comedy, Fantasy Amu Hinamori and the Seiyo Elementary Guardians continue their quest to seek out and purify X Eggs while in pursuit of the elusive Embryo—an egg said to be able to grant any wish. However, the Guardians must secure the Embryo before it falls into the hands of the nefarious Easter Corporation. As part of their plan to lure out the Embryo, Easter hires Lulu de Morcerf, an aloof girl whose ruby necklace gives her the ability to convert Heart Eggs into Mystery Eggs. These strange Mystery Eggs cannot be purified as easily as X Eggs, and they can force its owner to undergo a Character Transformation. With this growing threat, the Guardians must track down its source and put a stop to them before the matter gets out of hand. Facing insurmountable pressure from these two new objectives, will the Guardians be able to recover the Embryo while also dealing with the Mystery Eggs? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae Hell Girl: Three Vessels 地獄少女 三鼎 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Psychological Mystery, Supernatural Following the events of Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, has disappeared. Her former companions decide to lead normal lives, until their absent mistress returns to them with a new companion, and in a way that none of them anticipated. Yuzuki Mikage is a normal schoolgirl who soon comes to understand the Hell Girl on an intimate level. During a dream-like trance in the bathtub, Ai kisses Yuzuki and possesses her. So when Yuzuki's friend decides to type in the name of their teacher in the Hell Correspondence website, Ai makes use of Yuzuki's body to accomplish her own task of ferrying the teacher's soul to hell. Yuzuki is disturbed by her new circumstances and wonders why she was chosen to continue Ai's work. Unfortunately for her, the Hell Girl and her assistants resume operation of Hell Correspondence, and she is dragged along for the ride towards hell itself. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Kurozuka 黒塚 [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Historical, Vampire Action, Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi In 12th-century Japan, swordsman Kurou escapes ghastly pursuers into a deep forest with his servant Benkei. Seeking shelter, the two find themselves within the secluded abode of the mysterious and beautiful Kuromitsu. While they are warmly accepted, the men are warned to never enter Kuromitsu's room. However, driven by innate curiosity and perhaps a condemned love, Kurou peeks through the ajar door, only to find Kuromitsu feasting on the blood of fallen men. He soon learns Kuromitsu is an immortal vampire, and dedicates himself to her—even becoming a vampire himself in order to spend eternity with her. But the cryptic organization known as the Red Army has enlisted the help of Benkei, who betrays Kurou and severs his head. Awaking centuries into the future in an apocalyptic modern-day Japan, Kurou sets off to reunite with his lover and exact revenge on the Red Army. Sad to say, but nothing interesting. Supernatural samurai, fighting, a bit of gore and historical references. As a result, a very sour impression.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Mouryou no Hako 魍魎の匣 [Madhouse] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Detective, Historical, Psychological Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense Absent-minded schoolgirl Yoriko Kusumoto only has eyes for Kanako Yuzuki. After planning for their summer trip, their journey comes to a premature and brutal end when Kanako is found severely wounded on train tracks and Yoriko in tears on the station's platform. Shuutarou Kiba, a detective who happened to be on the train that hit the girl, takes up the investigation. However, he discovers that the mystery behind this case is intertwined with an intricate network of deceptions involving the Yuzuki family, especially its most prominent member, Youko Yuzuki—a famous actress and Kanako's sister. Although Kanako survives after surgery, her critical state prompts Youko to entrust a doctor, Dr. Koushirou Mimasaka, to take care of the girl in an ominous, box-shaped facility in the forest where she will receive experimental treatment. But soon after, on a night where Kiba and Yoriko visit Kanako, the convalescent suddenly vanished. Now searching for her whereabouts, the burden on Kiba dramatically grows when he learns about other gruesome discoveries: limbs of young girls in boxes. Kiba is suggested by a colleague that the macabre findings are related not only to Kanako's disappearance but also to the truth behind her sister. As the investigation continues, the detective—enlisting the help of his partners Tatsumi Sekiguchi and Akihiko Chuuzenji—has to find a way to solve this series of crimes and find Kanako back. It as it's a collection of everything I dislike.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Hyakko ヒャッコ [Nippon Animation] (Finished 13/13) Tags: CGDCT, School Comedy, Slice of Life On their first day of high school shy Ayumi Nonomura and taciturn Tatsuki Iizuka become lost on the immense campus of Kamizono Academy. An irresistible force of nature named Torako Kageyama accompanied by her best friend Suzume Saotome appears in front of them. Led, sometimes pushed, by Torako, the girls and their classmates work through problems of school, home and adolescence. It's episodic comedy, so it all comes down to humor which is ok, but not exactly to my taste.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Macademi Wasshoi! Magician's Academy まかでみWAっしょい！ [Zexcs] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Gag Humor, School Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi Magician's Academy revolves around Takuto Hasegawa, who attends a magic academy that is not marked on any map. During a summoning spell exam, he accidentally creates a girl named Tanarotte, who happens to hold enough magical power to destroy his country, but fortunately Tanarotte professes undying loyalty (and love) to her "creator." Utter silly nonsense with ecchi about loli, so need to like absurd humor and lots of stamps.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Kurogane no Linebarrels Linebarrels of Iron 鉄のラインバレル [Gonzo] (Finished 10/24) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi Fourteen-year-old Kouichi Hayase's life has always been a mediocre one, if not dismal. However, those days of being bullied by classmates and escaping to a fantasy of being a hero are put to an end when a certain "accident" bestows on him a girl and a gigantic humanoid robot called "LINEBARREL." The extraordinary power that Kouichi obtains puts him and everything around him on a sudden rollercoaster ride of battles, intrigues and friendship! During the course of his adventure, the boy starts to learn what life has to offer; he meets new friends, bids farewell to the old ones, but most of all he now has considerable responsibilities and is forced to confront the world around him. This mecha takes the usual cheeky brat protagonist and tries to experiment on him and develop him. Sometimes it works, but more often it does not or looks like a bad parody. It's still mecha with a unique feel and Code Geass notes.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Kemeko Deluxe! ケメコデラックス！ [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shounen School Action, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi When Sanpeita Kobayashi was a child, his lovely friend had to move away, but she vowed that in ten years, they would meet again—as husband and wife. Ten years later, Sanpeita is a high school student, but he hasn't forgotten the feelings they shared. Sanpeita awakes from a dream about his last day with her, only to have his morning interrupted. A weird robot girl is battling other robots in his bedroom, claiming to be his wife. The robot's pilot looks like none other than Sanpeita's long-lost, childhood friend. But who is she really? Why did she have to leave? And what does she have to do with the Mishima Electronics Corporation? A weird ecchi comedy where I can't find anything worthwhile in.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Kyou no 5 no 2 (TV) 今日の５の２ [Xebec] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Ecchi Following the line of the precedent OVAs (of the same name) This anime goes around the normal lives of some elementary school (5th grade, 2nd class room) kids and their adventures, while turning to teens. Their games, stupid jokes, and the misunderstandings around their premature attraction to the opposite sex. Ryota Satou is the main character here, but his friends are almost as important as him since the school wouldn't be the same without them, especially the girls who the majority of time appear to be mature by their ages but in the ends they are as childish and even more "dangerous" than the boys. Basically, OVA sketches are repeated, plus new ones are added. And I still don't find humor good.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Tentai Senshi Sunred 天体戦士サンレッド [AIC ASTA] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Seinen Gag Humor, Parody, Super Power Comedy Tentai Senshi Sunred is the magnificent story of the conflict between good and evil that takes place in the city of Kawasaki. Sunred, ally of justice, is dedicated to stopping the evil organization Florsheim on their quest for world domination, while General Vamp and his minions are constantly thinking up new schemes to defeat Sunred. In what sounds like a typical story, the characters make all the difference. Our hero Sunred is rude, violent, and lazy, playing pachinko all day and leeching off of his girlfriend Kayoko Uchida. Meanwhile General Vamp is polite, conscientious, and an ideal homemaker who cooks, mothers his minions, and discusses housekeeping with Kayoko, who bickers constantly with Sunred. Even the monsters of Florsheim tend to be adorable and harmless. Each episode is comprised of several shorts weighing in at anywhere from a few minutes to a few seconds, and explores the daily lives of these sworn enemies. This is the story of the battle between good and evil that takes place in Kawasaki. It's a blast when watched for the first time. Somehow not feeling like rewatching it for now. But it definitely deserves a lot more love.   Overall Rating: 7/10   33. Tytania タイタニア [Artland] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Military, Psychological, Space Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi One Man vs. an Empire! Through fear and conquest, the Empire of Valdana holds the future of most of human space within its iron hands, and for generations, those hands have belonged to the Landless Lords of the ruling Tytania dynasty. But now the foundation of the empire is crumbling, pockets of rebellion are forming and when a mission sent to punish the city-state of Euriya is shockingly defeated, the man responsible becomes the target of a galaxy-wide manhunt! For Fan Hyurlick, architect of Tytania's first defeat, glory becomes desperation as his own side betrays him. Now Fan must not only save his own life, but somehow turn the tables on opponents who have whole worlds to command! Story from the author Galactic heroes, but there are too many similarities - also omnipotent empire and rebel forces, also genius admiral of the rebels, also competing nobles of the empire. But there are differences as well - now scale is a lot smaller, and rebels are always vastly outnumbered, so most of the time development happens on the land - in the cities. But again there's no normal ending, so can't recommend it unless you liked Galactic heroes.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Hokuto no Ken: Raoh Gaiden Ten no Haoh 北斗の拳 ラオウ外伝 天の覇王 [Satelight] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Drama  In the wastelands following the great nuclear war, a legend grew of a man. “Hokuto No Ken.” The Fist of the North Star. Master of a legendary fighting technique. A man of impossible strength and endurance. Yet before Ken claimed the title of the Fist, there was another master, trained in the art of Hokuto Shinken, the King of the Fist, the Divine Fist of Heaven. Raoh: the ultimate assassin, the ultimate warrior. This is the story of the world before Fist of the North Star, and how one man took the future of a savage world into his deadly hands and reshaped its destiny. Not as a hero but as a conqueror. For in the mind of the man called Raoh, the only way to save Mankind is to grind it under his giant heel! The greatest battle is about to begin in Legends of the Dark King ~ Fist of the North Star! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Battle Spirits: Shounen Toppa Bashin バトルスピリッツ 少年突破バシン [Sunrise] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Shounen Strategy Game Energetic and thrill-seeking sixth grader Toppa Bashin has his mind set on only one thing—the card game Battle Spirits. Bearing a ruby pendant inherited from his missing father, Bashin heads to school every day with excitement: not for academics, but for card battling, much to the chagrin of his peers. One day, Bashin encounters J, the child prodigy champion of Battle Spirits, who bears a similar pendant. Star-struck, Bashin challenges J to a battle. However, the battle he gets is one he did not anticipate; the two are teleported to a mysterious arena in the sky—the Isekai World—where Spirits from the game become real. Feeling that his dream is finally within arm's reach, Bashin dives headfirst into the Isekai World, encountering other card battlers with extraordinary pendants. While making his way to the top, he slowly realizes that there is more to Battle Spirits than he ever imagined. Kids, monster battles with use of cards, ugly CGI... that's all I needed to know.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Live On Cardliver Kakeru ライブオン CARDLIVER 翔 [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Strategy Game Fantasy Kakeru is a big fan of the Live On card game, like so many kids his age. However he loses every time he plays, no matter how hard he tries. Things change when one day Kakeru saves a small dog-like creature chased by weird people. The “dog” is in fact a Create Monster and gives Kakeru an unusual Live Change card, which in turn allows Kakeru to protect his newfound friend… And gets him involved in something he did not expect… Another childish anime with monster battles coming out of cards.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Zettai Yareru Greece Shinwa 絶対やれるギリシャ神話 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 0/13) Tags: Comedy, Ecchi Comedy show based on Greek myths about how perverted the gods are. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   38. Negibouzu no Asatarou ねぎぼうずのあさたろう [Toei Animation] (Finished 0/49) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy Based on a picture book about a onion-headed samurai named Asatarou. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   39. Noramimi 2 のらみみ2 [-] (Finished 0/13) Tags: Childcare Comedy Sequel to Noramimi. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   40. Giga Tribe 기가 트라이브 [Studio Kaab] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Parody, Super Power Comedy Gang Tu-Ji is just a normal passionate and determined (pun intended) 13 year old boy trying to woo the prettiest girl in school. That is until 4 mysterious creatures crash through his roof one day. Tu-Ji ends up reluctantly helping them out by transforming into Tribe Captain via the Giga Stone's power they brought. And the creatures themselves are able to morph into fully humanoid super sentai-like warriors! Together they fight against friends and strangers who have been possessed by the evil Bavaria in a catch-phrase sitcom manner. It's definitely for kids.   Overall Rating: 4/10   41. Kiss x Sis キス×シス [feel.] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Seinen Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi When Keita Suminoe's father remarried, not only did he gain a new mother, but elder twin sisters as well. Distinct yet similar, the homely and mature Ako is a former student council president, while the athletic and aloof Riko is the previous disciplinary president. The three of them have been together since kindergarten, resulting in a deep bond between the siblings. However, over time, their relationship developed into something more romantic—and erotic . Now in his last year of middle school, Keita has already received a sports recommendation, but it's from a different high school than his two sisters. Disappointed, both sisters try to change his mind, and he agrees, giving in to their desperate pleas. Unaware of the consequences, he now has to attempt to study for his high school exams while warding off the advances of his lust-driven sisters. With their parent's blessings, Ako and Riko strive to be Keita's future wife, leaving him to try his best to keep the relationship between them strictly platonic. However, with two beautiful girls vying for his attention, will Keita be able to withstand the endless temptations? It's already more than ecchi, but less less than hentai, so kind of borderline hentai, and OVA format is chosen because it can't be shown on TV anyway. I got pretty tired of all that harassments and had to drop it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   42. Touhou Niji Sousaku Doujin Anime: Musou Kakyou 東方二次創作同人アニメ 夢想夏郷 [Maikaze] (Finished 4/?) Tags: Vampire Fantasy In the hidden magical land of Gensokyo, shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei constantly makes sure that supernatural incidents involving mythical creatures known as youkai remain as infrequent as possible. As part of her shrine's traditions, she hosts an annual summer banquet that invites a variety of guests, ranging from humans to even the strongest of youkai. On the morning of the banquet, however, the shrine's donation box suddenly goes missing. Furthermore, there appears to be no trace of any theft whatsoever. As Reimu, her friend Marisa Kirisame, and news reporter Aya Shameimaru investigate the situation, they realize that others also have missing possessions. With each step closer to piecing the puzzle together, the group soon understands that this phenomenon is more than just simple thievery—an incident on par with Remilia Scarlet's mist or Yuyuko Saigyouji's youkai cherry blossom. I did not expect much of Touhou, but this is just waste of time on random sparrings, SOL and just showing all the numerous girls of the franchise.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Switch スイッチ [Actas] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Detective, Organized Crime Action, Mystery Two new members of Japan's Narcotics Control Department are tasked with dismantling the criminal network that supplies the deadly drug called Funny Angel (FA). While Haru Kurabayashi infiltrates the mafia branch that commercializes this drug, his partner Kai Etou starts working in a suspicious greenhouse that may harbor the FA production. As both agents grow closer to their objective, they are confronted with difficult choices that threaten to jeopardize the cover of each other. Short detective action is something I can't appreciate.   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart Master of Martial Hearts 絶対衝激～プラトニックハート～ [Arms] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Ecchi The story centers on the Platonic Heart, a jewel that—according to an old urban legend—can grant any wish when collected. Only a chosen few are allowed to compete in the Platonic Heart hunt, and high school junior Aya Iseshima is one of 11 girls and women who are taking part. It's quite average fighting ecchi, and last episode suddenly turns it into a totally different genre, some freaking Santa Barbara all over again.   Overall Rating: 5/10   45. Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Juuryoku Sensen Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Gravity of the Battlefront 機動戦士ガンダム　ＭＳ ＩＧＬＯＯ ２　重力戦線 [Sunrise] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha Sci-Fi MS igLoo 2 goes back to the first MS igLoo and tells the story of the Federation soldiers side that has to fight against the monstrous Zakus. Each episode tells a story of a different federation soldier that is cursed by a Death God that came down to earth with the Zakus and shows the desperate struggle against mobile suits with only conventional weapons such as tanks and missiles. Each soldier, fueled with revenge, and a Death God looming over their backs, fights against the odds that is the terrible might of a Zaku. It looks more battlefield than Gundam with tanks and other armored vehicles alongside infantry and with all that in CGI. Feels rather senseless to me to follow some characters that are going to die at the very start of invasion anyway.   Overall Rating: 6/10   46. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 6: Boukyaku Rokuon The Garden of Sinners Chapter 6: Oblivion Recording 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第六章『忘却録音』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense With strange events occurring at Reien Girls' Academy during winter break, Azaka Kokutou, a student and apprentice mage, is sent by her master to investigate. It turns out that another mage has been stealing the students' memories using fairies that, despite her magical talent, are invisible to Azaka. So Shiki Ryougi, an acquaintance with special eyes who can see what Azaka cannot, is also sent to the academy to help with the crisis. However, the two have trouble getting along, mainly due to the fact that Azaka views Shiki as her romantic rival. But when the fairy situation quickly spirals out of control and more layers of the mystery are revealed, Azaka must learn to work with Shiki in order to save her classmates. Another magical duel - who would have thought. Hardly even a mystery this time.   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Biohazard: Degeneration バイオハザード ディジェネレーション [Digital Frontier] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi  The story is set in autumn 2005, one year after Resident Evil 4 game took place. Due to an as of yet unexplained reason, zombies appear in a United States airport. The release of the zombies leads to danger of an outbreak. It feels that it's aftermath of the game, because there's little action and lots of intrigues. Relatively amusing.   Overall Rating: 6/10   48. Hells ヘルズ, (ヘルズエンジェルス) [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Horror  Amagane Rinne had an accident and died while hurrying to school. She suddenly arrived in an awkward school... in Hell, filled with demons. While she is struggling and wishing to go back to the world whence she came from, she makes friends with her demon schoolmates and develops an uncommon bond. An abstract surreal mess which lasts for full two hours and I don't know what to like here.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  13. kivandopulus
    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
  14. kivandopulus
    Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009) and Souten Kouro are my favorites in Spring 2009. K-On! and Shangri-La are following slightly behind.   1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST [Bones] (Finished 1/64) Tags: Shounen Military Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy After a horrific alchemy experiment goes wrong in the Elric household, brothers Edward and Alphonse are left in a catastrophic new reality. Ignoring the alchemical principle banning human transmutation, the boys attempted to bring their recently deceased mother back to life. Instead, they suffered brutal personal loss: Alphonse's body disintegrated while Edward lost a leg and then sacrificed an arm to keep Alphonse's soul in the physical realm by binding it to a hulking suit of armor. The brothers are rescued by their neighbor Pinako Rockbell and her granddaughter Winry. Known as a bio-mechanical engineering prodigy, Winry creates prosthetic limbs for Edward by utilizing "automail," a tough, versatile metal used in robots and combat armor. After years of training, the Elric brothers set off on a quest to restore their bodies by locating the Philosopher's Stone—a powerful gem that allows an alchemist to defy the traditional laws of Equivalent Exchange. As Edward becomes an infamous alchemist and gains the nickname "Fullmetal," the boys' journey embroils them in a growing conspiracy that threatens the fate of the world. Remake.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. K-On! けいおん! [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 13/13) Tags: CGDCT, Music, School Comedy A fresh high school year always means much to come, and one of those things is joining a club. Being in a dilemma about which club to join, Yui Hirasawa stumbles upon and applies for the Light Music Club, which she misinterprets to be about playing simple instruments, such as castanets. Unable to play an instrument, she decides to visit to apologize and quit. Meanwhile, the Light Music Club faces disbandment due to a lack of members. This causes the club members to offer anything, from food to slacking off during club time, in order to convince Yui to join. Despite their efforts, Yui insists on leaving due to her lack of musical experience. As a last resort, they play a piece for Yui, which sparks her fiery passion and finally convinces her to join the club. From then onward, it is just plain messing around with bits and pieces of practice. The members of the Light Music Club are ready to make their time together a delightful one! It's fresh and amusing, with nice songs, too. But can't say you're going to miss much by not watching it, so I'll stop at borderline masterpiece score.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. Higashi no Eden 東のエデン [Production I.G] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Award Winning, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Suspense On November 22, 2010, Japan was hit by missile strikes, a terrorist act that fortunately did not harm anyone, becoming known as "Careless Monday." Quickly forgotten, society goes on about their lives as normal. During her graduation trip to America three months later, friendly college student Saki Morimi's life is forever changed when she finds herself saved from unexpected trouble by Akira Takizawa. Takizawa is cheerful, but odd in many ways—he is stark naked and suffers from amnesia, believing himself to be a terrorist. In addition, he possesses a strange cell phone loaded with 8.2 billion yen in digital cash. Despite Takizawa's suspicious traits, Saki quickly befriends the enigmatic young man. However, unbeknownst to her, this is the beginning of a thrilling death game involving money, cell phones, and the salvation of the world. Higashi no Eden chronicles Saki's struggle to unravel the mysteries behind her savior, while Takizawa himself battles other individuals armed with similar cell phones and returning memories which reveal his possible connection to the event from months ago. Watched it at least twice and never got to like it, mostly due to genre as it all holds on things that are deliberately not told and ends in a fluke, as usual.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 14/14) Tags: School Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi Kyon has found himself dragged through many adventures as of late—all because of the SOS Brigade club and its excitable leader, Haruhi Suzumiya. He has stopped believing in the supernatural long ago, but after being forced to join this club based solely on that, he has seen things that cannot be explained logically. Joining Kyon on his various misadventures is the shy and soft-spoken Mikuru Asahina, the bookish Yuki Nagato, and the ever-cheerful Itsuki Koizumi. Whether it is summer vacation or a school festival, things involving their club and Haruhi herself always end up becoming strange. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 8/10   5. Pandora Hearts パンドラハーツ [Xebec] (Finished 12/24) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery To young Oz Vessalius, heir to the Vessalius Duke House, the perilous world called the Abyss is nothing more than a folktale used to scare misbehaving children. However, when Oz's coming-of-age ceremony is interrupted by the malicious Baskerville Clan intent on banishing him into the depths of the Abyss, the Vessalius heir realizes that his peaceful life of luxury is at its end. Now, he must confront the world of the Abyss and its dwellers, the monstrous "Chains," which are both not quite as fake as he once believed. Based on the supernatural fantasy manga of the same name, Pandora Hearts tells the story of fifteen-year-old Oz's journey to discover the meaning behind the strange events that have overtaken his life. Assisted by a mysterious Chain named Alice, whose nickname is "Bloodstained Black Rabbit," and members of a clandestine organization known as "Pandora," Oz begins to realize his existence may have more meaning than he could have ever imagined. It starts more or less as imitation of Shana, but loses any direction soon and becomes just humor variety show. Not funny at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Dragon Ball Kai ドラゴンボール改 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/97) Tags: Shounen Martial Arts, Super Power Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Five years after the events of Dragon Ball, martial arts expert Gokuu is now a grown man married to his wife Chi-Chi, with a four-year old son named Gohan. While attending a reunion on Turtle Island with his old friends Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma and others, the festivities are interrupted when a humanoid alien named Raditz not only reveals the truth behind Gokuu's past, but kidnaps Gohan as well. With Raditz displaying power beyond anything Gokuu has seen before, he is forced to team up with his old nemesis, Piccolo, in order to rescue his son. But when Gokuu and Piccolo reveal the secret of the seven mystical wish-granting Dragon Balls to Raditz, he informs the duo that there is more of his race, the Saiyans, and they won’t pass up an opportunity to seize the power of the Dragon Balls for themselves. These events begin the saga of Dragon Ball Kai, a story that finds Gokuu and his friends and family constantly defending the galaxy from increasingly more powerful threats. Bizarre, comical, heartwarming and threatening characters come together in a series of battles that push the powers and abilities of Gokuu and his friends beyond anything they have ever experienced. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom [Bee Train] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Seinen Organized Crime Action, Drama, Suspense Mafia is rife in America where assassinations are a regular occurrence on the streets. Inferno, a mysterious company, is behind most of these dealings through the use of their near-invincible human weapon, "Phantom." One day, a Japanese tourist accidentally witnesses Phantom's latest murder. Desperate to escape, the tourist hides in a secluded building. However, Phantom, revealed to be a young woman named Ein, and the leader of Inferno "Scythe Master" captures the tourist and brainwashes him. Given the name "Zwei," this once peaceful tourist is now a puppet of Inferno with no memories. Drawn into a world of lies, deceit, and violence, Zwei must fight to survive, hopefully to one day regain his memories and escape from this world where he is constantly on the brink of death. Never watched this series to the end before, because it's genuinely boring, but had to finish it this time since I did visual novel review. And it's a rather faithful adaptation, even some bad endings are implemented with time rewind after them. But basically story is not interesting and even deliberately confusing even though characters and some missions are memorable enough, There's not enough depth and complexity for seinen, after all, as it moves mostly by adding characters and showing new relation ties. It needed to be adapted normally since visual novel is not in a good state, but it's not a masterpiece level story, and basically I don't like it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. 07-Ghost セブンゴースト [Studio Deen] (Finished 2/25) Tags: Josei Military, Mythology Action, Fantasy Barsburg Empire's Military Academy is known for training elites who bring victory to the empire. Students of the academy freely utilize an ability called "Zaiphon" to fight, while the types of Zaiphon usable depends on the nature of the soldier. Teito Klein, a student at the academy, is one of the most promising soldiers produced. Although ridiculed by everyone for being a sklave (German for slave) with no memories of his past, he is befriended by a fellow student called Mikage. While preparing for the final exam, Teito uncovers a dark secret related to his past. When an attempt to assassinate Ayanami, a high-ranking official who killed his father, fails, Teito is locked away awaiting punishment. Only wanting the best for Teito, Mikage helps him escape. Teito ends up at the 7th District Church where he is taken in by the bishops. It is here that Teito attempts to evade the grasp of Ayanami and the Military, so he can rediscover his memories and learn why he is the person that can change the fate of the world. All the boys love references cry for a missing tag here.  Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Sengoku Basara 戦国BASARA [Production I.G] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai, Super Power Action In the Sengoku period, the struggle for power and unification has brought endless bloodshed to the unstable Japan. Out of all the warring generals, Nobunaga Oda—the "Demon King of Owari"—has established himself as the strongest ruler. Friend or foe, he is determined to crush anyone who stands in his way of creating a tyrannical central government. The only two who dare rebel against Oda are the "One-eyed Dragon of Oshu" Masamune Date, and the distinguished but hot-blooded warrior of the Takeda clan, Yukimura Sanada. Though they share the goal of preventing Oda from unifying the domains, Masamune and Yukimura cannot see eye-to-eye. Equally skilled in combat, mutual admiration for one another causes these two feuding warriors to forge a fierce rivalry, thwarting any attempts to form a united front against the Demon King of Owari. With Oda's forces closing in on their respective territories, Masamune and Yukimura reluctantly learn to put aside their differences and fight together against the threatening usurpator. Superpower fantasy on Sengoku requires a lot of care while this game treats Sengoku as frivolously as possible resulting in mindless action with the gist pushed to the end.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Senjou no Valkyria Valkyria Chronicles 戦場のヴァルキュリア [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Military Action, Romance In its expansion west to gain resources, the Europan Imperial Alliance invades the neutral Principality of Gallia, seeking to take control of its vast Ragnite deposits. Their strategic advantage, technological superiority, and military might make opposition nonexistent, so they steamroll through the border of the sleepy principality with ease. As Imperial forces run through his quiet hometown, Welkin Gunther and his younger sister Isara jump into action, banding with the leader of the local militia to push the occupational forces out of the village. Quickly retreating to the Gallian capital, they are organized into a unit with the remnants of the militia, tasked with assisting in repelling the Imperial presence from the country. Though unfamiliar with war, the newly formed Squad Seven must defend their country from annexation. But as the battle rages on through the streets of Gallia, ancient secrets will bring the team closer than they'd ever anticipated. I hate original series, because I always want to get only perfect score as it gives more exp, and perfect score means winning in like two rounds with only precise actions foreseeing future  as they should be based upon countless replays. But as a result I have not played more than five missions of the game and am curious to learn if story leads anywhere particular. But I've seen the tomb in the game, and nothing really good happens after that in anime. The middle is basically trope-heavy shoujo with Alicia behaving in the most evident banal way. The ending is a very expected and hinted twist (hinted even in the title, lol). Poor game, boring anime.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Cross Game クロスゲーム [SynergySP] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Drama, Romance, Sports Kou Kitamura and Aoba Tsukishima are often at odds—even though their families happen to be close friends and business partners. Although the only child of a sports shop owner, Kou has never been interested in playing baseball. Despite this, he possesses an impressive batting ability honed by frequent visits to the local baseball batting center run by the Tsukushima family. On the other hand, Aoba loves to play baseball and is a star player with exceptional pitching form. However, these two seemingly complete opposites share something very important to them—Wakaba Tsukishima, Aoba's older sister and Kou's destined sweetheart. Admired by the quarrelsome duo, Wakaba often finds herself the catalyst to their never-ending rivalry. But whether or not they realize that they have more in common than either would care to admit, only time will tell. The game of baseball may just be what the pair needs to ultimately overcome their own personal struggles. I'm absolutely tired of Mitsuru Adachi eternal baseball spokons. He's made like ten of them already and they all feel relatively the same. It's nauseating by this point.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Hayate no Gotoku!! Hayate the Combat Butler!! ハヤテのごとく!! [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Shounen Harem, Parody Action, Comedy, Romance Hayate Ayasaki's misfortune continues to hand him the short end of the stick. Now settled into his routine at the Sanzenins' mansion and Hakuou Academy, the butler continues to work as hard as ever in caring for his young mistress Nagi while studying the school's grueling curriculum—all on top of trying his best to survive the multitude of troubles that life relentlessly pushes onto him. The unintentional chick magnet's life is far from quiet, forced to deal not only with Nagi's yet unnoticed infatuation with him, but also the evergrowing string of accidentally seduced girls—most notably, the exceptionally plain Ayumu Nishizawa, a friend of his before he became a butler, and the diligent Hinagiku Katsura, Hakuou's student council president. While one struggles to gain his affection and the other desperately tries to deny her own, both the girls are going to make the boy's life a little more complicated than it already is. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Asura Cryin' アスラクライン  [Seven Arcs] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Mecha Action, Supernatural Natsume Tomoharu is a normal high-school student in every way with one exception: he's being followed by the ghost of his best friend, Misao. After moving into his brother's old house, Tomoharu expects to continue living his normal life but is one day left with a mysterious and locked briefcase without any instruction. At first he plans to leave it in storage; however, his house is soon invaded by multiple groups of people after the briefcase. Although still not knowing the purpose of the briefcase, Tomoharu and Misao attempt to escape with it. From there on, Tomoharu tries to learn the secrets behind the briefcase, the connections between it and Misao, and why it has the power to change the world. Not decent characters spotted, and overall it's an average wonder waffle story with weird tilt into spirits.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Hatsukoi Limited. 初恋限定。 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen School Comedy, Romance Ayumi Arihara believes that being loved is the ultimate key to happiness—which is why her greatest wish is to have a boy confess to her. A series of unfortunate events leads to her ideal dream coming true, albeit in a nightmarish way: the towering and terrifying Misao Zaitsu confesses his love to Ayumi through a letter. Mentally exhausted from not knowing what to do, Ayumi collapses in class. A classmate comes to her rescue, carrying her princess-style to the infirmary. This makes Ayumi fall in love with the cute boy, only to realize he is none other than Misao's younger brother, Mamoru. Feeling caught between a rock and a hard place, Ayumi must decide whether to stick to her idea of love or pursue what she truly desires. However, Ayumi is not alone in her struggles—all her friends are also taking on the challenges of first love, and for teenagers, it is never as easy as it seems. Cute designs and small romance stories. It's all nice and watchable, but I'm not sure I can ever rate an omnibus format as masterpiece no matter the quality just because it can't be integral.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Queen's Blade: Rurou no Senshi Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin クイーンズブレイド 流浪の戦士 [Arms] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi  In a land where a queen is chosen every few years solely by winning a tournament, there can be no short supply of formidable opponents. For one woman warrior however, an early defeat clearly shows her that she is lacking in experience though she may be bountiful in body. Fortunately, while defeat could spell one's doom, her life is saved by a powerful stranger. But unfortunately for this savior, less-than-pure motives and shrewd family members mean her reward is a prison cell. Her release is prompt when the unseasoned warrior she saved, tired of her current lifestyle of nobility, sets off to prove herself. Queen's Blade is probably the most famous booby action series. And unlike some Freezing story here is just battle royale.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Saki 咲-Saki- [Gonzo, Picture Magic] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Seinen School, Strategy Game Slice of Life Due to childhood circumstances, first-year high school student Saki Miyanaga hates anything related to mahjong. When she does play the game, she keeps a low profile to avoid standing out. One day, her friend Kyoutarou Suga drags her along to the school's mahjong club. There, she meets Nodoka Haramura, the champion of the previous year's national middle school mahjong championship, and Yuuki Kataoka, a fellow club member. As the club play a few rounds, Saki attempts to hide her talent. However, the club president, Hisa Takei, notices Saki's unusual playstyle. Realizing her potential, she puts Saki's real ability to the test—proving her to be more talented than expected. This revelation damages Nodoka's pride, and their relationship gets off to a rocky start. Saki ends up joining the club, and after clearing up the misunderstandings between her and Nodoka, friendship blooms between them. As Saki slowly warms up to mahjong once again, she and the rest of her club only have one goal—to win nationals! Mahjong is not fun, and I don't find these characters or development interesting either.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Tears to Tiara ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラ [White Fox] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy As the Holy Empire rises to power, the neighboring lands begin to gradually fall under its control. The Empire's conquest eventually reaches the small island of Erin, home to the Gael tribe. There, a priestess named Riannon is kidnapped to be offered as a living sacrifice to the demon king Arawn, a malevolent being rumored to have caused untold destruction in the past. Riannon's brother, First Warrior Arthur, rescues her, when Arawn suddenly materializes before them as a handsome grey-haired man. Hiding his true identity and remaining enigmatic, Arawn pledges his power and leadership to the tribe's cause and joins Arthur, Riannon, and their merry band of friends—including a talented swordsman, an agile hunter, and a group of ecstatic pixies—as they fight back against the Empire, while uncovering the dark secrets of the land along the way. Leaf has serious problem with plots, so this is another boring story, now even more banal than Utawarerumono, just fantasy about retaking kingdom as an adventurer party with some sympathizers. Many flaws and irritations in here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Tayutama: Kiss on My Deity タユタマ -Kiss on my Deity- [SILVER LINK.] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem Romance, Supernatural  Yuuri Mito is a typical, normal Japanese teenager. He goes to school, works on people's motorcycles and performs exorcisms. Okay, that last part's a little bit unusual, but his family lives in a shrine and they do that sort of thing. Still, you would think he'd know enough to be careful with an ancient relic he finds in the woods, especially when a mysterious goddess appears and tells him to leave it alone. Unfortunately, despite Mito's best efforts, the seal gets broken anyway and a number of dangerous "tayuti" that it held in stasis get loose. This is bad. Mito also ends up with a beautiful goddess girl who decides that she's going to marry him. This might not be so bad. if he wasn't already caught up in the middle of a war between the entities he's released. The flesh may be weak but the spirit's more than willing to compensate. Never liked the game, adaptation is same banal harem mess.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Shangri-La シャングリ・ラ [Gonzo] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi  In a post-apocalyptic society, much of earthquake-riddled Japan has been left to ruin, resulting in an abundance of greenery. Governments manage much of the world's emissions, resulting in a massive class divide and economic disparity. The Japanese government launches "Project Atlas," a utopian city that will replace Tokyo but can only fit a certain amount of people. This limitation means that some people will have to live outside the city in jungles, as refugees. However, with any flawed plan comes those who are willing to challenge it. These include Kuniko Houjou, an heir to a renegade town; Mikuni, a mysterious and powerful child kept in a secret temple; Kunihito Kusanagi, a soldier for the high-tech and exclusive monopoly Atlas; Karin Ishida, a genius economics whiz with her hand in markets across the world; and the villainous Ryouko Naruse, leading Atlas in its domination of this future world. Can this group of rebels, forming a movement known as "Metal-Age," band together to demonstrate that inclusion and teamwork prevail over cruel segregation? Shangri-La made a great impression on me when I watched it for the first time, definitely of a masterpiece level. And even now I see it as a full head ahead of rivals as it has memorable characters, world and story. It deserves a minor masterpiece status, because it's an innovative concept though not without flaws and some irritations.   Overall Rating: 7/10   20. Natsu no Arashi! Summer Storm! 夏のあらし！ [Shaft] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Shounen Time Travel Comedy, Romance, Supernatural In modern-day Japan, 13-year-old Hajime Yasaka moves to the countryside to stay with his grandfather. On the way to his new home, a lost Hajime finds himself in a cafe called Ark, where he immediately falls in love with one of the waitresses: the gorgeous Sayoko "Arashi" Arashiyama. While Arashi is initially unconcerned with the boy, her attitude quickly changes after she grasps Hajime's hand, leading her to believe they are "connected." As it turns out, Arashi is anything but a regular teenager—in reality, she is the ghost of a girl who perished in World War II. By touching a man she connects with, she gains the ability to travel back in time. Delighted to have found someone who can unlock her powers, Arashi asks Hajime to help with her mission: to save civilians from the carnage of the war that claimed her life. Smitten with Arashi, Hajime readily agrees. But as the two get further involved with Arashi's past, they soon discover that she is not the only one able to transcend time. Learning that it comes from School Rumble author helps me a lot. There's also lots of girls, ultramusculine side character, supernatural element used for convenience and same unfunny stupid humor that I absolutely can't stand for long (there are even characters from School Rumble occasionally at background).   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Basquash! バスカッシュ！ [Satelight] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mecha, Team Sports Sci-Fi, Sports  On the planet Earthdash, its inhabitants gaze on its moon and the technologically advanced lunar city of Mooneyes with awe. Dan JD, a boy living in Rollingtown on Earthdash's surface, gets caught up in Bigfoot Basketball—a fast-paced sport played with giant Bigfoot robots. Yay... childish CG mecha basketball... yay...   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Ristorante Paradiso リストランテパラディーゾ [David Production] (Finished 2/11) Tags: Josei Workplace Drama, Gourmet, Romance When Nicoletta was a little girl, her mother, Olga, abandoned her and ran off to Rome to remarry. Now, 15 years later and a young woman, she travels to Rome with the intention of ruining her mother's life. She tracks Olga down to a restaurant called Casetta dell'Orso, but the second Nicoletta steps through its door, everything changes. It's a peculiar place staffed entirely by mature gentlemen wearing spectacles, and like their clientele, she is helpless against their wise smiles and warm voices. Before Nicoletta realizes it, her plans for vengeance start to fade, and she's swept up in the sweet romance of everyday Italian life. I can't stop getting surprised at combinations of unpleasant things that authors manage to combine in one anime. First of all, reverse harem tag is missing here. Josei needs intelligence to shine, like Nodame Cantabile. Girl having revenge as motive, obsessed by adultery phenomenon and easily getting charmed by everyone while acting impulsively is the opposite of intelligent. And on top of that I can't treat gourmet shows seriously. And why every single character so ugly...   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Guin Saga グイン・サーガ [Satelight] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  The ancient kingdom of Parros has been invaded by the armies of Mongaul, and its king and queen have been slain. But the "twin pearls of Parros," the princess Rinda and the prince Remus, escape using a strange device hidden in the palace. Lost in Roodwood, they are rescued from Mongaul soldiers by a strange leopard-headed man, who has no memories except for the words "Aurra" and "Guin," which he believes to be his name. Despite being fantasy with complex setting, it feels morally old and banal and super convenient, so boring as a result .   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S 神曲奏界ポリフォニカ [Diomedéa] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Music, School Drama, Fantasy, Romance The new series will again focus on Corticarte, but it will tie into Ichiro Sakaki and Noboru Kannatsuki's Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica crimson S light novel adaptation, which are set during the Academy years of the storyline. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Souten Kouro Beyond the Heavens 蒼天航路 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Historical Action, Adventure Souten Kouro's story is based loosely on the events taking place in Three Kingdoms period of China during the life of the last Chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao (155 – March 15, 220), who also serves as the main character. The Three Kingdoms period has been a popular theme in Japanese manga for decades, but Souten Kouro differs greatly from most of the others on several points. One significant difference is its highly positive portrayal of its main character, Cao Cao, who is traditionally the antagonist in not only Japanese manga, but also most novel versions of the Three Kingdoms period, including the original 14th century version, Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. Another significant difference from others is that the storyline primarily uses the original historical account of the era, Records of Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, as a reference rather than the aforementioned Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. By this, the traditional hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, takes on relatively less importance within the story and is portrayed in a less positive light. Yet, several aspects of the story are in fact based on the novel version, including the employment of its original characters such as Diao Chan, as well as anachronistic weapons such as Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Zhang Fei's Viper Blade. A consistent theme throughout the story is Cao Cao's perpetual desire to break China and its people away from its old systems and ways of thinking and initiate a focus on pragmatism over empty ideals. This often puts him at odds with the prevalent customs and notions of Confucianism and those that support them. I enjoyed it more than expected. It has decent designs and fights and tricks. But it covers strife inside the Empire, Cao Cao ascension, Yellow Turban rebellion and gradual transformation into direct conflict with Liu Bei, so it's basically prequel to Sangokushi trilogy that covered the most epic parts already. And Liu Bei is pictured here as a charismatic and weak adventurer which was not to my liking. In the end I enjoyed it substantially, but without any awe - for a firm masterpiece score.   Overall Rating: 8/10   26. Arad Senki: Slap Up Party アラド戦記 ～スラップアップパーティー～ [Gonzo] (Finished 5/26) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  The anime will follow the adventures of Baron, a man living on continent of Arad in the year 981 after "the cursed light of Kazan" has fallen across the land. Thanks to the curse, one of his arms has become possessed. After finding a sword that has been possessed by the spirit Roxy, he embarks on a quest to unravel the secret of the curse and meets various people who also join his party. A decent jrpg parody with occasionally ok humor, but most of the time it's not funny, and random development only tires me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact! Ｚマジンガー; 真マジンガー 衝撃！Z編 [Bee Media, Code] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Mecha, Super Power Action, Drama Set in the near future, humanity enters another energy revolution following the discovery of Photon Power. Derived from the ore discovered under the foothills of Mt. Fuji, its intended use was to solve the world's energy problems with its unimaginable power. Seeking this energy is Dr. Hell, a madman craving world domination who with his subordinates Baron Ashura, Count Brocken and Viscount Pygman, commands an army of mechanical beasts excavated from the ruins of ancient Greece to seize the Photon Power Lab for himself. Meeting the attack head on is the hot-blooded teenager Kabuto Kouji, who pilots the Photon Powered robot built by his grandfather, Mazinger Z. But in this battle between Dr. Hell and the Kabuto family, many legends surrounding the Mycenaean Civilization and Bardos Island, as well as the secrets of Mazinger Z remain shrouded in mystery. A new series based on the mecha show that started it all, Mazinger Z. Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen starts over from the beginning with a new cast, to tell a new story unrelated to the original show Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Jewelpet ジュエルペット [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Shoujo Anthropomorphic Fantasy When what looks to be a cluster of shooting stars appear in the sky, Rinko Kougyoku and her friend Minami each make a wish. What the girls truly saw were not stars, but 'Jewel Charms' falling to the Earth. These charms were created by three magicians in a magical world names Jewel Land, each housing one of its many native Jewelpets. Although these creatures are free to roam the world in their original form, the magicians sometimes turn them into charms so that they can be carried around with great ease. Most Jewelpets don't find this troublesome, but once a mischievous bunny by the name of Ruby feels overly claustrophobic, she devises her escape. One day, the magicians decide to move the Jewelpets, and task a pelican with delivering them to the Dream Forest. All is well until a strong gust of wind disorients the bird, who then drops all of the charms that he was carrying. Instead of heading towards the Dream Forest, all the Jewelpets but Ruby fall to Rinko’s home city on Earth. Someone must go and retrieve them all, and as Ruby was the worst-behaved of the bunch, she is given the task of going to Earth. When Ruby reaches Earth in the form of a red Jewel Charm, she falls into Rinko’s water glass, and thus begins a rather unexpected adventure. Rinko, Minami, and Ruby form an alliance to search and gather all of the fallen charms, encountering strange creatures and tons of helpful allies along the way. Will they be able to succesfully bring the Jewelpets home safely, or is Earth full of more danger than they had expected? Rather typical shoujo of a girl who wants courage to talk in public and needs magic for that, and couple pinky plushies help with all that. The number of tropes in pilot episode is overwhelming, so that's all I can bear.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou The Best!! Extremely Cool Student Council President 極上!!めちゃモテ委員長 [Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment] (Finished 2/51) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance Mimi Kitagami is a kind, level-headed girl who aims to be the best, coolest student council president of her high school class. However, three trouble-making boys are always causing her grief — and she has a one-sided crush on one of the boys, Ushio Toujou. We've seen many times this school romance shojo where girl gets turned down over and over by mysterious boy with presumably tragic background. There's also enough cringe. But CGI makes it look even worse than usual and deserves an extra penalty score.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables こんにちは アン ～Before Green Gables [Nippon Animation] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Historical Drama The story of what happened to Anne Shirley before she was adopted. Prequel to World Masterpiece Series show, so only for niche audience.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Mainichi Kaasan Kaasan: Mom's Life 毎日かあさん [Gallop, TYO Animations, Dongwoo A&E] (Finished 1/142) Tags: Childcare Comedy, Slice of Life Based on Rieko Saibara's humorous semi-autobiographical manga about her life raising her two children. Just very short simplistic SOL sketches with crude graphics. And most sketches follow the same structure - mom has to clean after her relatives or otherwise handle their actions, and that's not funny at all. It only confirms my thesis that autobiographies are usually boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Kigurumikku V3 きグルみっく☆V3 [AIC ASTA] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Mecha, Parody Comedy, Ecchi  The high spirited girls Azuki Edomae, Mutsumi Mutsuki and Serika Shihodo, put on their "KIGURUMI"costumes instantly transforming them into the super heros Kigurumikku-Swan, Kigurumikku-Falcon and Kigurumikku-Swallow. Follow these super-girls as they defend Minamachi City and bring peace to the town. A silly magical girl parody that is over in half an hour, and I'm not even sure it would be any good to watch in a company.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete ファイナルファンタジーVII アドベントチルドレンコンプリート [Square Enix Visual Works] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy Two years after saving the world from a cataclysmic event, the members of the activist organization Avalanche have gone their separate ways. Tifa Lockhart opens a new bar, and her childhood friend Cloud Strife starts up a motorcycle-based courier service. Although most of their former allies have fallen out of touch, Cloud and Tifa live in fragile peace with their two young wards Marlene and Denzel. Their life together begins to crumble as a contagious plague and overwhelming grief pull Cloud away from his newfound family. While distancing himself through his work, Cloud is attacked by three silver-haired figures in black uniforms who bear a passing resemblance to his bitter rival, Sephiroth. As the antagonistic trio stalks Cloud and brings harm to his loved ones, the former mercenary struggles against his own demons while fighting to protect his family and prevent the will of Sephiroth from returning to the planet. How much does Director's Cut version add to the movie? In my experience, very little of what matters - usually just flavor scenes for some characters. I remember 2005 movie as action packed thriller while here pace is worse. but I'm definitely not going to rewatch it again in search of new scenes. Should watch one or another, but not both. Don't see the need for this version tbh.   Overall Rating: 4/10   34. Dogs: Bullets & Carnage ドッグズ／バレッツ＆カーネイジ [David Production] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Seinen Action It is sometime in the future, where a certain European city extends far underground, even secret, dark levels that have the key to the past. Ex-assassin Mihai has returned and is living with Kiri, who now runs a restaurant. Sword-wielding Naoto, Haine (white hair), a mysterious product of genetic engineering and his sometime partner Badou (eyepatch). Each episode is a short 15-minute story with different protagonist, and I really don't like omnibus collections.   Overall Rating: 5/10   35. Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile - Episode: Denzel デンゼルを中心としたオリジナルアニメ [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy After the three-pronged conflict between tyrannical electric company Shinra, rebel group Avalanche, and the maniacal Sephiroth, the damaged planet slowly heals its wounds. A rural town dubbed Edge sprouts up on the outskirts of Midgar's ruins. Reeve Tuesti, former Head of Urban Development at Shinra, interviews a young boy named Denzel for potential membership in Reeve's World Regenesis Organization, a group devoted to the restoration and protection of the planet. Denzel recounts his tragic history to Reeve, detailing how the aftermath of the heroic Avalanche's actions laid waste to Midgar and took the lives of everyone the boy knew. Through reminiscing to Reeve, Denzel discovers a newfound purpose. It's under half an hour and about a side character that was not really interesting from the start, so I'd live without it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   36. Issho ni Training: Training with Hinako いっしょにとれーにんぐ [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sports, Ecchi  "First muscle training animation ever," a 16-year-old girl named Hinako leads exercises in push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Hinako was once a human, but she was turned into an anime character when she was a second-year middle-school student. There's no plot, so just a waste of ten minutes.   Overall Rating: 4/10   37. Yurumates ゆるめいつ [Indeprox, Takeshobo, indigo line] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life Yurume, an 18-year old "ronin" and recent high school graduate, has high hopes of being accepted and attending Tokyo University. She moves into an apartment complex, the Maison du Wish, located on the outskirts of Tokyo where other ronins living there are studying for upcoming college acceptance exams. Relaxing episodic SOL comedy, but with schematic graphics, so can't really appreciate it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   38. Cobra The Animation: Time Drive COBRA THE ANIMATION タイム・ドライブ [Magic Bus] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Lady has disappeared so Cobra must dive into her past to save her. This is the story of who Lady used to be and how she got that metal body. Another prequel to the series, this time about side character. Don't know about the 2010 series, but these movies are synonyms to cringe.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. First Squad: The Moment of Truth ファーストスクワッド [Studio 4°C] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Military, Super Power Action, Supernatural As the Second World War rages on throughout Europe and the German forces advance closer to Moscow, the days of the Soviet Union seem numbered. Their only hope is the First Squad, a special unit operating within the Soviet intelligence service that consists of teenagers possessing supernatural abilities. However, the unit's sole surviving member Nadya Ruslanova suffers from memory loss and is unlikely to take part in any combat operation. The next Moment of Truth—an event that happens once every 700 years, when the actions of a single man can change the entire course of history—is rapidly approaching the Eastern Front. In hopes of breaking the stalemate at the frontlines, a German occult organization called Ahnenerbe plans to summon Baron von Wolff, a medieval knight from the Northern Crusades, and his undead army from the underworld. To prevent this from happening, First Squad must gather once again, and it is up to Nadya to bring back her deceased friends to stop the Nazis from taking over the world. Tasteless averageness created just to steal budget money.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai 宮本武蔵 ―双剣に馳せる夢― [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai Action The film's story centers on Musashi Miyamoto, one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history. He pioneered the Hyouhou Niten Ichi-ryuu style of two-sword fighting and wrote The Book of Five Rings, a book that has been compared to Sun Tzu's The Art of War for its insight on tactics and strategy. If you expected a coherent life story of a famous samurai, it's the wrong place. Most of it is CG with explanation on warfare and time period and climate and whatever else. Add real life footages and numerous guides antics and you'll get a weird mix... that is definitely not a documentary, so better use something else if you're really interested in this samurai.   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 17: Otakebe! Kasukabe Yasei Oukoku クレヨンしんちゃん オタケベ!カスカベ野生王国 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Sci-Fi Comical action adventure film including a caricature of radical ecoactivism and theme of bond between mother and children. The new mayor of Futaba Town, Kasukabe-City, Saitama Prefecture, Mamoru Shizan promotes ecology activities, but his true identity is the leader of an eco-terrorist organization "SKBE: Save Keeping Beautiful Earth", and he launches a plan to transform human into animals by making them take a drink to change into animals. By taking the drink, Shinnosuke's father, Hiroshi changes into a chicken, and his mother changes into a panther. With a mystery woman Victoria, the Nohara Family and half-animalized members of Kasukabe Defense Forces fight against SKBE to stop Shizen's plan.  Ecology cult episode is one of the weakest overall.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Baton バトン [-] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Adventure, Sci-Fi Project to mark Yokohama City's 150th anniversary. On Planet Abel, humans and robots co-exist. One day a mysterious stowaway on a transport vessel tries to invade the planet, but is discovered by Apollo (Hayato Ichihara), a robot that looks like a human; and Mikaru (Aya Ueto), a human that looks like a robot. The stowaway had in his possession a memory chip containing the latest in camouflage software, the mysterious "Cipher" OS. Apollo takes the Cipher chip simply for fun, but has no idea what he's getting himself into. He suddenly starts acting strange, but Mikaru has no idea what's wrong or that Cipher is behind it. What exactly is Cipher? What sort of secrets does it hold? Apollo and Mikaru will unravel a mystery encompassing the past, present, and future to find out. The main problem is that it's not anime, but some kind of digitalized motion capture. World is shown only schematically, and focus is on facial emotions and fighting choreography, because it's what used technology can do the best. Story is not bad though short, but poor crude visuals and long scenes of the similar action happening kill all the intrigue.   Overall Rating: 5/10   43. Batain Lai!! Minami no Shima no Mizu Monogatari パッテンライ!!　～南の島の水ものがたり～ [Mushi Production] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Slice of Life The year is 1917, and under Japanese occupation, Taiwan suffers from terrible drought and famine. Residents of the Chianan Plain live in squalor, their lives defined by the daily struggle of carting water home. When Yoichi Hatta, a Japanese civil engineer, arrives with a plan to reshape the area's irrigation dramatically, the local residents are quick to call him a liar. Xu Yingzhe, the son of a poor farmer, takes issue with the outright rejection of Hatta's plan and tries to reason and grasp the situation. Hatta's scheme may seem crazy, but it could be the very thing that improves the strenuous lives of the Taiwanese people. Good occupant tries to make residents' lives better and only meets resentment which gradually changes. It is pretty well done and based on real events, but I don't find any of it interesting.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  15. kivandopulus
    Bakemonogatari is the only honorary masterpiece for me this season for the sheer impact and novelty of it.    1. Bakemonogatari 化物語 [Shaft] (Finished 15/15) Tags: Vampire Mystery, Romance, Supernatural Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student, manages to survive a vampire attack with the help of Meme Oshino, a strange man residing in an abandoned building. Though being saved from vampirism and now a human again, several side effects such as superhuman healing abilities and enhanced vision still remain. Regardless, Araragi tries to live the life of a normal student, with the help of his friend and the class president, Tsubasa Hanekawa. When fellow classmate Hitagi Senjougahara falls down the stairs and is caught by Araragi, the boy realizes that the girl is unnaturally weightless. Despite Senjougahara's protests, Araragi insists he help her, deciding to enlist the aid of Oshino, the very man who had once helped him with his own predicament. Through several tales involving demons and gods, Bakemonogatari follows Araragi as he attempts to help those who suffer from supernatural maladies. I totally appreciate pace of speed and episodic masterful allusions of original season. Can't say the same about following seasons though, as it gets old and story starts to go in circles. Borderline masterpiece is just the right score for it, in my opinion.   Overall Rating: 7/10   2. Ookami to Koushinryou II Spice and Wolf II 狼と香辛料II [Brain's Base, Marvy Jack] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Adult Cast Adventure, Fantasy, Romance Traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence continues his northward journey with wolf goddess Holo, in search of her lost home of Yoitsu. Lawrence and his sharp-witted partner continue to make some small profits along the way, while slowly uncovering more information about Holo's hometown. However, the road to Yoitsu is a bumpy one filled with many troubles—Lawrence runs into a charming young fellow merchant who has his eyes set on the female wolf companion, and he begins to doubt if Holo will remain by his side; he and the goddess will also have to consider precarious and risky business deals as Lawrence strives to achieve his dream of becoming a shopowner. All the while, with his determination tested at every turn during his journey, Lawrence must question his relationship with Holo, take on business ventures, and ask himself whether it is time for him and Holo to go their separate ways. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 東京マグニチュード8.0 [Bones, Kinema Citrus] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Award Winning, Drama  Middle school student Mirai Onozawa is dissatisfied with her family circumstances and, in a moment of frustration, wishes to tear everything apart. Unfortunately, these destructive thoughts seem to come true in the form of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake just a few moments later. When summer vacation begins, Mirai reluctantly takes her younger brother Yuuki to Odaiba, where a robot exhibition that he wanted to go to is being held. However, while they are in the exhibition center, the fury of a major earthquake shakes the Kanto region; helpless, both kids witness the devastating power of this natural disaster as it brings the city to its knees. In its aftermath, they stumble upon Mari Kusakabe, a motorcyclist and single mother who decides to help the young siblings. Aiming to return to their homes and reunite with their families, the group sets off on a long and hard journey through the decimated city. Basically, I don't like it. As a catastrophe anime it loses to Barefoot Gen. As human relations anime, it's pretty horrible as personalities are rather sour. Watching all that foolish behavior is very irritating. Don't know how I watched to the end many years ago, but it's a drop material for me now.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Canaan [P.A. Works] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Super Power Action, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Oosawa Maria is a Japanese photographer currently working in Shanghai, China. Along with her partner Mino, she searches for potential newsworthy stories throughout the city. When strange events occur at a local festival, Maria and Mino immediately investigate. Quickly, the two are immersed in a battle between unknown masked men and a strange, white-haired woman. Just when Maria is about to be caught in the crossfire, an old friend by the name of Canaan appears and helps Maria escape. But a sinister plot over a deadly virus soon develops, and Canaan learns she must confront her past if she wants any chance at stopping the perpetrator and saving her friends. There are as many as three amnesiac girls in this bland story. The worst part is antagonists who don't have motivation behind their actions, because they're probably crazy, why even need to explain something.    Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Princess Lover! プリンセスラバー! [GoHands] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Ecchi Following an automobile accident that claims the life of his parents, Teppei Arima is taken in by his grandfather and introduced to the world of the rich and the elite. Compared to his humble upbringing, Isshin Arima's lavish lifestyle surprises and stuns the young teenager. In return for the gracious hospitality, Teppei is expected to continue the family business by replacing his grandfather as the head of Arima Financial Combine, and to prepare him for these responsibilities, he is enrolled into an esteemed high school. Along with his recently acquired celebrity status and affluence, Teppei is informed of an arranged marriage with the equally prosperous Sylvia van Hossen, thus, beginning the thrilling escapades of his new life! Garbage show that does not have real harem, comedy, ecchi or worthwhile personalities.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Umineko: When They Cry うみねこのなく頃に [Studio Deen] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Gore, Psychological Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Considered as the third installment in the highly popular When They Cry series by 07th Expansion, Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place on the island of Rokkenjima, owned by the immensely wealthy Ushiromiya family. As customary per year, the entire family is gathering on the island for a conference that discusses the current financial situations of each respective person. Because of the family head's poor health, this year involves the topic of the head of the family's inheritance and how it will be distributed. However, the family is unaware that the distribution of his wealth is the least of Ushiromiya Kinzou's (family head) concerns for this year's family conference. After being told that his end was approaching by his longtime friend and physician, Kinzou is desperate to meet his life's true love one last time: the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Having immersed himself in black magic for many of the later years in his life, Kinzou instigates a ceremony to revive his beloved upon his family's arrival on Rokkenjima. Soon after, a violent typhoon traps the family on the island and a string of mysterious murders commence, forcing the eighteen people on the island to fight for their lives in a deadly struggle between fantasy and reality. I never went past the first arc end because I can't really appreciate supernatural horror detective mystery going in cycles with everyone resurrecting each time. Having finished it now, can say that it's only slightly better than Higurashi, because the gist remains very close to that. Can't call it intellectual or even psychological - just antics on top of detective mind games. And impression was much better when I stopped just after first arc, because the amount of stupidity rises steeply from there.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Needless ニードレス [Madhouse] (Finished 5/24) Tags: Seinen Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi At the onset of World War III, nobody could have predicted the effect it would have on Japan. While it had officially ended fifty years ago in 2150, its battles still persist. Large, mysterious areas known as "Blackspots" appeared across the country, filled with the contaminated ruins of cities and countrysides. Those inside were trapped to halt the spread of contamination, and their powers began to mutate—be they shapeshifters, pyromancers, or controllers of gravity itself—they all became known as the Needless. Adam Blade is one such Needless, possessing remarkable regenerative abilities and incredible strength. In order to restore peace to a war-torn Japan, he and his allies must fight together to rise against a heinous research group by the name of Simeon. It reminds Gurren Lagann a lot to me, but very soon it becomes evident that story is not going far, so need to enjoy the flow and the comedy. And I can't get to like it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 懺・さよなら絶望先生 [Shaft] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Parody, School Comedy Nozomu Itoshiki is still the bizarre teacher of the even stranger Class 2-F. He attempts to teach his students the negative aspects of the world and society, only to have each circumstance thrown at his face whenever he tries. With more students and friends than before, Zetsubo-sensei's life becomes harder and crazier than ever before. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Aoi Hana Sweet Blue Flowers 青い花 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/11) Tags: School Drama, Girls Love, Romance Shy and soft-spoken Fumi Manjoume and upfront and caring Akira Okudaira were best friends in elementary school, but this changed when Fumi and her family moved away. Years later, Fumi moves back to her hometown after being accepted at Matsuoka Girls’ High School. She finally reunites with Akira, who is going to attend Fujigatani Girls’ Academy. Despite their reunion, their relationship isn't the same as it was years ago. As soon as Fumi starts attending school, popular senior Yasuko Sugimoto takes notice of her and flatters her more than any other underclassmen. After running to Akira for help so many times before, Fumi must figure out who she is as a person instead of standing in someone else’s shadow. However, that doesn’t stop Akira from wanting her friendship with Fumi to be as it once was. Will the girls be able to conquer the high school stage of growing up before it pulls them apart? It's a banal though realistic girls love. Everything feels familiar and expected here, so don't want to advance further.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Sora no Manimani At The Mercy of The Sky 宙のまにまに [Studio Comet] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Romance Saku Ooyagi returns to his hometown after seven years and is soon reacquainted with his childhood friend, Mihoshi Akeno. The reunion is far from merry since the last memory they have of each other is of her falling off a tree and him saving her. In any case, Mihoshi is determined to improve their relationship and forces Saku to join the astronomy club she founded. Astronomy club is one of the most boring school setups possible alongside rocket or robot building club for me... and I don't know a single masterpiece anime with that setup. It's lively enough and even slightly funny, but it was a lost cause from the start.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Kanamemo かなめも [feel.] (Finished 13/13) Tags: CGDCT Comedy, Girls Love, Slice of Life, Ecchi Middle schooler Kana Nakamachi's life drastically changes when her grandmother passes away. Leaving behind an empty house, Kana learns that no one can provide her lodging due to her young age. Eventually, she stumbles upon the Fuhshin Gazette, a local newspaper delivery business who is able to provide her with a place to stay if she works for them in return. The small store is staffed by several unique people: the sweets-loving Yume Kitaoka and her girlfriend Yuuki Minami; the frugal Hinata Azuma; the alcoholic Haruka Nishida; and the young but mature Saki Amano. It is not all fun and games at the Fuhshin Gazette, though, as Kana must deal with long working hours, energetic dogs guarding mailboxes, and confusing delivery routes. Add in a small rivalry with Mika Kujiin, a girl from a competing store, and Kana will have more than enough to keep her hands full! It loses to Yuru Yuri in every aspect, so is not memorable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!! Charger Girl Ju-den Chan ファイト一発！充電ちゃん！！ [Studio Hibari] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Meet Plug, an unusual girl from a parallel world. Plug is a "Juuden-chan," capable of "recharging" people down on their luck, spreading good cheer wherever she goes! Unusual, but not in a good way, ecchi something that for some reason is called comedy here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto Umi Monogatari うみものがたり　～あなたがいてくれたコト～ [Zexcs] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Romance  Marin and her younger sister Urin are seafolk who happen upon something quite strange: a beautiful silver ring lost beneath the waves. The kind-hearted Marin, intent on returning it to its owner, drags a reluctant Urin along with her to the sky world despite reminders of a turtle elder who left for the surface and never returned. After locating the ring's owner, Kanon Miyamori, they learn that Kanon had tossed it into the sea after her boyfriend dumped her earlier that day. Though Marin insists that such a lovely item should not be thrown away, Kanon discards it once again. As they search for the ring, Urin becomes separated from the other two and accidently breaks the seal on a stone coffin, releasing an evil being known as Sedna. Sensing Sedna's release, the formerly missing turtle elder, Matsumoto, reveals himself to Kanon and her companions, naming Marin as the Priestess of the Sea. Together with the Priestess of the Sky, she has the power to seal Sedna away again. And as luck would have it, during an encounter with one of Sedna's minions, Kanon discovers that she is the Priestess of the Sky. Though Kanon is hesitant, she and Marin decide to work together to save the world from the evil that threatens it. Mahou shoujo that tries to be more serious, but ends up really boring and with an ultimately void ending.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou よくわかる現代魔法 [Nomad] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy Life hasn't been fair to Koyomi Morishita. Even though she's in high school, she's so short that everyone assumes she's still in grade school. The boys and girls in her school tease her mercilessly, and she's not exactly graceful either. On the other hand, she's still better off than Yumiko, who has a magician trying to kill her. Or at least Koyomi was until their paths crossed! Fortunately, salvation arrives in the form of master mage and graduate student Misa Anehara, who agrees to take Koyomi under her wing in learning the new style of magic, which breaks enchantment down into sequences of code. That'll be quite a task, given that so far Koyomi's talent seems to consist of making washbasins randomly fall out of the sky. But if it was easy, it wouldn't be magic, would it? Another modern look at mahou shoujo, but all the elements are extremely weak.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Taishou Yakyuu Musume. Taisho Baseball Girls 大正野球娘。 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Historical, School, Team Sports Comedy, Sports In 1925 (year 14 of the Taisho era) baseball is still quite unknown in Japan and there are only a few male teams. After being told by a baseball player that women should become housewives instead of going to school, 14-year-old Akiko invites her friend Koume to start a baseball team in order to prove him wrong. During this time, when even running was considered too vulgar for women, baseball is known as "what the boys do" and they face many difficulties when having to find enough members, to get permission from their parents and also when learning about the sport itself, which they soon discover to be more difficult than expected. Baseball in Taishou Era is even more painful than usual spokon...   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class GA 芸術科アートデザインクラス [AIC PLUS+] (Finished 12/12) Tags: CGDCT, School, Visual Arts Comedy, Slice of Life The Ayanoi High School features the Geijutsuka Art Design Class (GA) that focuses on the arts. Five close friends — the energetic "hime"-prankster Noda Miki; the level-headed, cynical Nozaki Namiko; the intelligent, observant, and kind Oomichi Miyabi; the lively and mischievous tomboy Tomokane; and the curious, innocent, glasses-wearing Yamaguchi Kisaragi — attend this class with great enthusiasm, learning about the many art techniques. Every day seems to pose a new and interesting challenge, be it struggling with the latest assignment or when dealing with the daily strangeness of school life. Some moeblobs are just waste of time, like this one.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Element Hunters エレメントハンター [NHK] (Finished 4/39) Tags: Sci-Fi Heewon Entertainment, NHK Enterprises In 2029, a large scale ground sinkage occurred in the Mediterranean Sea. Chemical elements such as oxygen, carbon, gold, molybdenum, and cobalt disappeared from the earth's crust suddenly. The human population was decreased by 90% in sixty years. Researchers found out that the disappeared elements were drained into a planet "Nega Earth", located in another dimension. To save the Earth, a special team called the "Element Hunters" is organized. All of the members are under 13 years old, because young and flexible brains are needed to access "Nega Earth". It's episodic and partly envioronmental... and boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Summer Wars サマーウォーズ [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Award Winning, Comedy, Sci-Fi  OZ, a virtual world connected to the internet, has become extremely popular worldwide as a spot for people to engage in a large variety of activities, such as playing sports or shopping, through avatars created and customized by the user. OZ also possesses a near impenetrable security due to its strong encryption, ensuring that any personal data transmitted through the networks will be kept safe in order to protect those who use it. Because of its convenient applications, the majority of society has become highly dependent on the simulated reality, even going as far as entrusting the system with bringing back the unmanned asteroid explorer, Arawashi. Kenji Koiso is a 17-year-old math genius and part-time OZ moderator who is invited by his crush Natsuki Shinohara on a summer trip. But unbeknownst to him, this adventure requires him to act as her fiancé. Shortly after arriving at Natsuki's family's estate, which is preparing for her great-grandmother's 90th birthday, he receives a strange, coded message on his cell phone from an unknown sender who challenges him to solve it. Kenji is able to crack the code, but little does he know that his math expertise has just put Earth in great danger. Of course I watched it in the past, but it never impressed me. For me it's a childish VR story somewhere on the level of Ghibli works and also below masterpiece level.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Redline [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adult Cast, Racing Action, Sci-Fi Every five years, an exhilarating race called Redline is held, and the universe's most anticipated competition has only one rule: that there are none. Racers are pushed to their absolute limit—a feeling that daredevil driver JP knows all too well. Having just qualified to participate in Redline, he is eager to battle against the other highly skilled drivers, particularly the beautiful rising star and the only other human that qualified, Sonoshee McLaren. But this year's Redline may be far more dangerous than usual—it has been announced to take place on the planet Roboworld with its trigger-happy military and criminals who look to turn the race to their own advantage. However, the potential danger doesn't stop the racers; in fact, it only adds to the thrill. Relying solely on his vehicle's speed, JP prepares for the event to come, aiming to take first place in the biggest race of his life. Good looks, but not enough essence, so no harm to miss it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 7: Satsujin Kousatsu (Go) The Garden of Sinners Chapter 7: A Study in Murder - Part 2 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 第七章『殺人考察（後）』 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense  In February 1999, a string of murders has Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou on edge. These crimes share a disturbing resemblance to a similar set of homicides from 1995, when Shiki and Mikiya first met, and awaken a dark, murderous desire that has laid dormant within Shiki's soul ever since then. With Shiki under suspicion due to her involvement in the past killings and supposed resemblance to the killer, she and Mikiya set out to find the true perpetrator. In the midst of their separate investigations, Mikiya grows increasingly concerned with Shiki's well-being and hurries to find the one responsible in order to protect Shiki from her own impulses. With the lead he receives from his cousin, police investigator Daisuke Akimi, Mikiya is led into the underbelly of Mifune City, as the salvation of Shiki's soul lies in his determination to prove her innocence once and for all. The usual drag, but with an awkward attempt to wrap things up and throw more links to previous works.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Cencoroll センコロール [Aniplex, Think Corporation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi  When a gigantic, unearthly monster suddenly looms on the skyline of a Japanese city, the expected occurs—the Japan Self-Defense Forces roll out the tanks while the public panics. Nobody knows what it is or where it came from, but Yuki, a bold and inquisitive teenage girl, has a secret but might be a useful clue. Her friend Tetsu has been clandestinely caring for a bizarre creature called Cenco, which will soon prove itself to have some remarkable, even impossible characteristics. Another teenage boy, a stranger with some mysterious link to the monstrosity attacking the city, shows up, and his unwelcome interest in Tetsu's pet snuffs out any doubt of a connection—and lights the fuse for the coming battle. A memorable episode with transformation theme, but it's only 20 minute long, so there's nothing but impact.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou Mai-Mai Miracle マイマイ新子と千年の魔法 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Award Winning, Drama  The story is set in 1955 in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. One thousand years ago it was the site of the ancient capital, Suo no Kuni, and traces of the Heian Period (year 794-1185) are passed down to us in the form of ruins and historical place names. The protagonist is Shinko, a third grade elementary school student, who was born and raised in one of the town's venerable families. She is a little girl whose characteristic is a strange curl on her forehead (she calls it her "Mai Mai"), and her love for playing in the fields. On the other hand, her secret joy is to imagine and to daydream about the world of one thousand years ago. Her fantasies travel far into the days of the Heian Period... One day, a girl called Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and enters Shinko's class. This girl from the big city has difficulty feeling at home in this small town, but gradually her friendship with Shinko deepens. Before long, the two of them become engulfed in a strange incident of one thousand years earlier...?! Another work that looks up to Ghibli and that's done probably just to build portfolio and participate in thematic concourse. Most of it is familiar village SOL with rare references between present and past. A good heart-warming anime, but I can't enjoy it as adult.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Hottarake no Shima: Haruka to Mahou no Kagami ホッタラケの島　～遥と魔法の鏡～ [Production I.G, Polygon Pictures] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Fantasy  Your favourite teddy bear. That model kit that took so long to complete. The picture book you used to read over and over again. The shining stone you found that day in the park. Where do all your childhood's treasures go when you grow up? In this story, we meet fantastic creatures that gather all these little objects that fall into oblivion as they are forgotten by their owners when they step into adulthood. These creatures sneak into our world from a different dimension, and unseen by humans, they take all the ditched and forgotten "treasures" into their world. Here, they use their booty to build their own city, a fairy tale-like place called... Oblivion Island! Another short story about a schoolgirl getting to a different world, now CG edition and thus having even less impact.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Asylum Session The Asylum Session アジール・セッション [CoMix Wave Films] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Sci-Fi  The story takes place in the far future, when the civilization has declined. Hiyoko is a high school girl, who aims to enter an art university. She runs away from her home because her father tried to throw away her mother's keepsake drawings. She finds a slum located in a stadium and meets the leader of the street children, Akira. The police attempts to demolish the stadium for the beautification of the city. In order to resist the demolition, the people in the stadium plans to hold a street-art event "The Asylum Session". Hiroko takes the charge of a giant painting on the stadium. Crude graphics, wide CG usage and strange story about artist in dystopian future don't add appeal to this movie. The core is quite amusing, but it ends with pretty much nothing, so not recommended.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. 8-gatsu no Symphony: Shibuya 2002-2003 Symphony in August 8月のシンフォニー ―渋谷 2002～2003 [WAO World] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Music  Based on the autobiography of the singer Kawashima Ai. The name of the book is "Saigo no Kotoba" ("The Last Words") and it follows Kawashima Ai's life after her mother's death. The story chronicles her journey to make her dream come true to be a singer and, among other things, how she used to perform for free on Tokyo's streets. Biography is not much different from any other idol except that gigs are much more reserved here. Nice songs that are not enka.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  16. kivandopulus
    It happens so that only Sunrise movie Ibara no Ou was more or less curious for me.   1. Fairy Tail FAIRY TAIL（フェアリーテイル）  [Satelight, A-1 Pictures] (Finished 3/175) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Fantasy  In the enchanted Kingdom of Fiore, the lively Lucy Heartfilia has one wish: to join the renowned Fairy Tail—one of the many magical wizard guilds scattered around the continent. Luckily, a chance encounter with Natsu Dragneel, the "Salamander" of Fairy Tail, whisks her into the legendary guild. From Natsu's rivalrous antics with ice wizard Gray Fullbuster to the frightening presence of the unmatched combat goddess Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's powerful mages have a slight penchant for trouble. Through all the lucrative odd jobs and adventures to save the world from destruction lies an absolute and unyielding trust stronger than family that has formed between each guild member. Teaming up with Natsu, Gray, and Erza, Lucy finds herself amidst the guild's most misfit wizards. But as they constantly stand in the eye of every danger, there is one name that never ceases to resurface: Zeref, the feared master of dark magic. I tried it at least twice before since I could live with such synopsis. But I absolutely can't stand the contents - the humor, the stamps/borrowings, the shallowness. It feels like Slayers all over again.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Kimi ni Todoke 君に届け [Production I.G] (Finished 8/25) Tags: Shoujo School Drama, Romance Known for her semblance to the Sadako character of The Ring series, Sawako Kuronuma is given the nickname "Sadako" and misunderstood to be frightening and malicious like her fictional counterpart, despite having a timid and sweet nature. Longing to make friends and live a normal life, Sawako is naturally drawn to the cheerful and friendly Shouta Kazehaya, the most popular boy in her class. From their first meeting, Sawako has admired Kazehaya's ability to be the center of attention and aspires to be like him. When Kazehaya organizes a test of courage for the entire class and encourages her to attend, Sawako sees this as an opportunity to get along with her classmates, starting with Ayane Yano and Chizuru Yoshida. Through each new encounter and emotion she experiences, Sawako believes that meeting Kazehaya has changed her for the better. Little does Sawako know, her presence has also changed Kazehaya. I really tried. There is enough humor, but this shoujo does not really develop, at least up to episode 8 that I watched, and structure is more or less the same - consulting with friends and blushing about making some action. It gets boring for me. All the shoujo I like have better development and more intelligent actors.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun A Certain Scientific Railgun とある科学の超電磁砲 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi The student-filled Academy City is at the forefront of scientific advancement and home to the esper development program. The seven "Level 5" espers are the most powerful in Academy City, and ranked third among them is middle schooler Mikoto Misaka, an electricity manipulator known as "The Railgun." When strange incidents begin occurring throughout the city, she finds each crime to be connected to the elusive "Level Upper," a legendary device that allegedly increases the esper level of its user. As the situation escalates, it becomes apparent that there is more to the Level Upper than meets the eye, and that Academy City may be a far more twisted place than the glamorous utopia it appears to be. Toaru Kagaku no Railgun focuses on Mikoto and her friends—and the dangerous situations they find themselves in—as they get caught up in the matter of the Level Upper. As Mikoto says, "There's never a dull moment in this city." Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Sora no Otoshimono Heaven's Lost Property そらのおとしもの [AIC ASTA] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Harem Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Ever since he was a child, Tomoki Sakurai has always woke up with tears after a dream of an angel. His childhood friend Sohara Mitsuki worries about this and decides to seek the help of Eishirou Sugata, an eccentric sky maniac. He concludes that Tomoki's dream is undoubtedly connected to what is known as the New World, a floating anomaly that scientists have failed to understand. Recruiting the New World Discovery Club's first members, Eishirou schedules a time to meet up in order to observe the mystery in the sky. That day, Tomoki's peaceful life is changed forever when a strange girl falls from the sky and begins to call him master. Sora no Otoshimono follows the daily activities of the New World Discovery Club as they begin to learn more about the Angeloids that have arrived on Earth. Light ecchi with pervy protagonist and magic to help him with that.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor DARKER THAN BLACK 流星の双子 [Bones] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Super Power Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi One night, as meteors streak across the star-studded sky, Shion Pavlichenko becomes a Contractor. Despite her brother's transformation, Shion's twin sister Suou continues to live a fairly ordinary life, attending middle school with her friends and getting caught up in the awkwardness of growing up. However, everything changes when her home is invaded by a masked man cloaked in black, destroying any sense of normality she once had. Revealed to possess latent Contractor abilities of her own, Suou is caught between family, friends, and her own sense of purpose as she ventures into the ruthless world of cutthroats and espionage that Contractors call home. Meanwhile in Tokyo, investigation surrounding Hell's Gate's sudden collapse is underway, and prophetic signs of doom point in the direction of a silver-haired doll. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Kämpfer けんぷファー [Nomad] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Magical Sex Shift, School, Super Power Action, Comedy, Girls Love, Romance, Ecchi Waking up transformed into a beautiful girl might be the stuff of some guys' fantasies, but when the suddenly effeminatized Natsuru is informed by a stuffed tiger that he's now a Kampfer, a mystical fighter who has to fight other Kampfers in female form, his life becomes a living nightmare! Putting aside the obvious "plumbing" issues, Natsuru's best childhood friend turns out to swing the other way and SHE has a crush on his new female body. Not complex enough? Natsuru's school has separate sections for boys and girls, so he and she are now double enrolled. The rumor-mill has it that he's dating herself. And there are other Kampfers attending the school who want to take her out, and he's not sure which ones mean "on a date" and which ones mean "permanently." Oh, and did we mention that some Kampfers use swords and guns?! Hormones, fists, and other body parts will fly as the daring, new gender-bender defender must become a contender or die! It's forced nonsense for the most part.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. InuYasha: Kanketsu-hen InuYasha: The Final Act 犬夜叉 完結編 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Shounen Historical, Mythology, Time Travel Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance Thwarted again by Naraku, Inuyasha, Kagome Higurashi, and their friends must continue their hunt for the few remaining Shikon Jewel shards, lest they fully form into a corrupted jewel at the hands of Naraku. But Naraku has plans of his own to acquire them, and will destroy anyone and anything standing in his way—even his own underlings. The persistent, unyielding danger posed by Naraku forces Sango and Miroku to decide what is most important to them—each other or their duty in battle. Meanwhile, Inuyasha must decide whether his heart lies with Kikyou or Kagome, before fate decides for him. Amid the race to find the shards, Inuyasha and his brother Sesshoumaru must also resolve their feud and cooperate for their final confrontation with Naraku, as it is a battle they must win in order to put a stop to his evil and cruelty once and for all. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Nyan Koi! にゃんこい！ [AIC] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem Comedy, Romance  Junpei Kousaka is a second-year high school student who has an allergy for cats—a predicament that has made him hate cats and everything related to them. Unfortunately for him, though, he is surrounded by cat lovers: his family, his estranged childhood friend, and even his crush Kaede Mizuno. One day, while returning home from school, Junpei nonchalantly attempts to kick an empty can into the trash, but miserably misses. Instead of making it to the garbage, the can ends up breaking off the head of a cat deity statue. That fateful day, he is cursed with the ability to understand cat speech. However, he must keep his curse a secret from everyone else, because anyone who finds out will become more accident-prone and share the same fate as him. With the guidance of his cat Nyamsus and with no other choice left, Junpei now has to do a hundred good deeds for cats to lift the curse. If he is unable to complete this task, he will turn into a cat, and considering his allergy, that would be a death sentence for him! A harem where cats constantly demand help harming protagonist's personal life... so why was it supposed to be interesting again... anyway, protagonist is an average donkan and execution is nothing exceptional to stand out .   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. 11eyes イレブンアイズ [Doga Kobo] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Action, Supernatural, Ecchi When the sky turns red, the moon turns black, and monsters begin roaming the streets, Satsuki Kakeru is at a loss for what to do. Along with his best friend Yuka, they try to decipher why they have been sent to this strange world, which is seemingly empty aside from themselves. However, when the "Red Night" ends, Kakeru and Yuka believe it was all a dream—until it happens again, and they are left in a dangerous situation. They meet four others in the same predicament: Kusakabe Misuzu, an expert swordswoman; Tachibana Kukuri, a strange mute girl who looks uncannily like Kakeru's deceased sister; Hirohara Yukiko, a lively young girl whose personality reverts to that of a cold killer when her glasses are removed; and Tajima Takahisa, a young pyrokineticist. As the six of them band together to survive and discover what this mysterious world is, things take a turn for the worse as six shadows appear before them... The core story does not feel good to me as it's some of Shana, some of harem and lots of convenience poured in generously. Anime tried to delay the inevitable timeline shift as long as possible, but of course in the end it falls in the same fallacy as 3 Days visual novel. Immature concept gave immature results, and no amount of character appeal or development could mend that.    Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Aoi Bungaku Series 青い文学シリーズ [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Historical, Psychological Drama, Suspense 1. Ningen Shikkaku 2. Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita 3. Kokoro 4. Hashire, Melos! 5. Kumo no Ito 6. Jigokuhen I remember enjoying this collection a lot after initial watch. Now I have mixed feelings. First 4-episode story is just scandalous trash that is only popular for being autobiography followed by author suicide. Second story is an average fairy tale with a bit of horror, nothing out of the way. And that's  half of the series done already. But all the better stories are pushed to the second half. Kokoro vibes remind me of James Joyce Ulysses which is nice, but alternative view on the story is a lot less cool and just needless. There have been at least two anime versions of Hashire Melos, and can't say this reference to real world story has any meaning, just an additional reference. Kumo no Ito is a senseless waste of time in form of moralistic fairy-tale with enough violence. Last story has even less sense as it's just artistic expressional choice for ending. It's very sad, but I don't consider any of these stories deserving masterpiece title. Just not deep enough. Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Seitokai no Ichizon Student Council's Discretion 生徒会の一存 [Studio Deen] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Harem, Parody, School Comedy Imagine living life as the vice president of the student council, passing the days eating snacks, playing games, and bonding with a harem of beautiful girls. This is exactly the kind of life that high school student Ken Sugisaki leads, or so he thinks! Usually, the officers of Hekiyou Academy's student council are elected by popular vote, but an additional position is granted to the student who scores the highest on the exams. Ken, who historically has had below average grades, worked hard to improve them to be accepted into the student council, with the ultimate goal of surrounding himself with girls who fawn over him. Unfortunately for the vice president, things do not go quite as planned. Not only do the ladies of the council continually rebuff his advances, they also prefer to focus on more important and "boring" activities, such as organizing school events and managing the other clubs. But a few minor hurdles like these won't stop Ken from chasing after his dreams, even if they seem a bit ridiculous. There's only episodic humor and no story, so competition is great among similar titles. And humor is not to my liking, so pass.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Seiken no Blacksmith The Sacred Blacksmith 聖剣の刀鍛冶（ブラックスミス） [Manglobe] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Forty-four years ago, the surviving nations of the Valbanil War declared peace and forbade the use of the devastating demon contracts that ravaged the land. Now, inexperienced knight Cecily Cambell is eager to follow the example of her family and protect the people of the city using the sword she inherited from her father. Her first challenge arises in the market. A crazed swordsman wreaks havoc upon civilians and Cecily jumps into action to restore order. Overwhelmed, her weapon shatters, but a skilled stranger wielding a strange-looking sword intervenes. With the situation diffused, Cecily heads to a local blacksmith in an effort to restore her family heirloom. However, she finds out that her savior—the blacksmith Luke Ainsworth—may be the only person capable of such intricate repairs. Determined to have her treasured sword repaired, she seeks out the man who rescued her. However, a group of bandits suddenly attack a convoy headed for the city. The assailants look inhuman, and an ice demon appears. Luke suspects the use of a demon contract and calls upon a sacred power to defeat them. Meanwhile, a shadowy hooded figure lurks, watching from a distance. Who is this mysterious evildoer, and what does his appearance mean for the pair? Concept is ok, but realization is poor, characters are bland and short action sequences change with cute girl fantasy SOL which is a very sharp contrast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Kobato. こばと。 [Madhouse] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Iyashikei Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance The friendly and sincere Kobato Hanato has a wish to go to a particular place no matter what. To fulfill this desire, she is tasked with helping people in their times of distress. For each mended broken heart, a small candy-like fragment is produced and fills a special bottle. Once the bottle is full, her wish will be granted. As Kobato carries out her mission alongside her stuffed toy companion, Ioryogi, she encounters various people troubled by their different situations. From a child struggling with his parents, a high school girl troubled about romance, and everything in between, Kobato's naturally sweet smile and outgoing personality are ready to brighten their day! A good innocent shoujo, but it's just about helping others which is far from interesting.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Tegamibachi Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee テガミバチ [Pierrot Plus] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Fantasy With his mother taken away from him and having lost everything, Lag Seeing is now a letter whose delivery has been assigned to Gauche Suede, a Letter Bee. Despite their troubling start, the two of them become friends, leading Lag to realize what his aim in life is: to deliver people's most important feelings in the form of letters, just as Gauche has done. Mailmen travel around fantasy steampunk world... to deliver letters. Seriously? Ridiculously stupid concept. What do mailmen do when they don't deliver letters? They discuss letters... it all makes me so mad. And of course pretty much everything in this road show is a filler. Bad even by shounen low standards.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Kuuchuu Buranko Welcome to Irabu's Office 空中ブランコ [Toei Animation] (Finished 2/11) Tags: Medical, Psychological Drama The world of psychology is far from strange to the unusual Dr. Ichirou Irabu, a resident psychiatrist of Irabu General Hospital. He and his charming nurse Mayumi run through several patients, each suffering from a mental illness that harms their everyday life. Patients should be wary of the seductive Mayumi, with her spellbinding looks and devilishly short pink nurse uniform. On the other hand, the doctor seems to have three separate personalities: a child with an oversized lab coat; an intelligent, youthful man with feminine traits; and a selfish, outgoing green bear. While curing his patients in questionable ways, Dr. Irabu often tries to gain something from them outside of his profession—and in doing so, occasionally forgets his role as a doctor. As each patient struggles to face the nature of their distress, an obvious yet invisible thread ties their paths together. RL and digitalized RL (like in movie Baton) is widely used here, and visuals in general are low effort here with many recycled elements and long still shots. Cases themselves are rather crazy than psychological. So it's painful to watch due to eclectic visuals and plot-wise can't even call it intriguing or amusing in any degree, so feels like a waste of time to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Yume-iro Pâtissière 夢色パティシエール [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Shoujo School Gourmet Aside from her deep passion for eating cakes, the clumsy Ichigo Amano has never been successful at anything. After an encounter with Henri Lucas, a famous patissier, Ichigo's amazing tasting abilities—although unbeknownst to her—are discovered. Recognizing her talent, Henri offers her the chance to attend St. Marie Academy, a prestigious culinary school which specializes in desserts. In spite of the fact that she is a beginner lacking skills, thanks to Henri's recommendation, Ichigo is placed in the topmost group with the "Sweets Princes." The princes, famous throughout the school for their magical treats, are Sennosuke Andou, an expert in traditional Japanese sweets; Satsuki Hanabusa, with a flair for candied flowers; and Makoto Kashino, a gifted chocolatier. Ichigo and the Sweets Princes, each accompanied by their "Sweets Spirits"—fairies who make patissiers' dreams come true—all work towards their goals in the competitive world of sweets. Gourmet shows are just difficult to be made interesting. This is yet another one that did not fly for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Sasameki Koto Whispered Words ささめきこと [AIC] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Girls Love, Romance Murasame Sumika is popular in the high school for her excellence in the marks and sports. However, she has a secret: she is in love with her classmate Kazama Ushio. Ushio also has a liking to the love between girls, but she hasn't noticed Sumika's feelings and has always been refused by other girls. Remember Aoi Hana with serious black haired girl in glasses and more genki bright-haired girl? Looks like it became paragon since Sasameki Koto is similar in many ways. And one episode of this slow-paced drag is more than enough for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Shugo Chara! Party! しゅごキャラ！パーティー！ [Satelight] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Shoujo Mahou Shoujo, School Comedy, Fantasy After overcoming the threat of the Easter Corporation, Amu Hinamori and the Seiyo Academy Guardians return to their council duties, eliminating any stray X Eggs they find along the way. With four of the five members graduating this year, the state of next year's Guardians Council is up in the air. In an effort to ensure the council's survival, the group recruits two "Guardian Apprentices" in the hopes that they will develop their own Heart's Egg someday. One of the Apprentices they take on is Rikka Hiiragi, a spunky and upbeat girl who is capable of communicating with X Eggs. As the Guardians have not been able to speak with these Eggs previously, Rikka's uncanny ability intrigues them. However, Rikka fears that she will never be accepted as a full-fledged Guardian if they ever find out what exactly she does with her ability. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza Haruka Nogizaka's Secret: Purezza 乃木坂春香の秘密ぴゃあれっつぁ [Diomedéa] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi  Haruka's manga and anime hobby is still concealed by her dear friend Yuuto, but Yuuto's other female friend starts to feel affection and attraction towards him, so a feelings war begins among their circle of friends. Meanwhile Yuuto tries to make Haruka happy doing what she likes the most: drawing manga, watching anime, and attending special anime events. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra Armed Librarians: The Book of Bantorra 戦う司書 The Book of Bantorra [David Production] (Finished 12/27) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy In a world where dead people turn into books and are stored in the Bantorra Library where anyone who reads a book can learn their past, Bantorra Library is maintained by Armed Librarians who wield psychic powers and their enemy is a religious society known as Sindeki Kyoudan. Setting is unusual, but there's basically nothing else - dubious graphics, poor characters, pace and story. Very unfocused and disintegrated storytelling with many changing protagonists, so could hardy care about them. In such messy state it just can't be recommended.    Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Asura Cryin' 2 アスラクライン 2 [Seven Arcs] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Mecha Action, Supernatural Following the first season, Tomoharu is now faced with a dilemma: if he doesn't form a contract with an "akuma," he risks losing his dear friend Takatsuki. However, doing so would compromise his own existence as it would result in him and his ghost friend Misao becoming an Asura Cryin'—mankind's biggest threat, according to their school's presidents. To make the decision even harder, Tomoharu and Misao have recovered some of their past memories—memories of a world that they didn't even know existed. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Queen's Blade: Gyokuza wo Tsugu Mono Queen's Blade: Inheritor of the Throne クイーンズブレイド 玉座を継ぐ者 [Arms] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Ecchi  After experiencing the numerous trials encountered on her journey, Reina has grown as a warrior. Determined to take part in the Queen's Blade tournament, she arrives at the capital city Gainos, where Queen Aldora awaits. There gathers a number of beautiful warriors who, like Reina, are there for the Queen's Blade. Amongst them is Reina's sister, Claudette, determined to restore the glory of House Vance; Tomoe and Shizuka, who are both fighting for their homeland of Hinomoto; Nanael who has been ordered to participate by the Archangel; and the subordinates of the Marshland Witch. All these beautiful fighters who gather in Gainos have been one objective, to win through the Queen's Blade, the tournament to select the strongest, most beautiful queen. Who would ascend to that glorious throne? That can only be determined via battle. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. White Album 2nd Season White Album Season 2  WHITE ALBUM 第2期 [Seven Arcs] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Harem, Idols (Female), Music Drama, Romance The second season of White Album, also known as episodes 14-26. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Shin Koihime†Musou 真恋姫†無双 ～乙女繚乱☆三国志演義～ [Doga Kobo] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Historical Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi  Following the battle for Touka Village and clearing the area of bandits, Unchou Kan'u, Chouhi Yokutoku, and Shokatsuryou Koumei prepare for the next step of their journey. They encounter someone surprising—a young woman claiming to be Gentoku Ryuubi! After being framed for various crimes, Ryuubi is on a mission to reclaim her family heirloom, the sword of Chuuzan Seiou, and clear her name from the evil deeds she allegedly committed. For Ryuubi's own safety, the four girls join forces and pursue the sword as it repeatedly changes hands, but they are never quite able to catch up to the current owner. During the adventure, Kan'u and the others meet several familiar faces who happily do what they can to assist in the hunt. Meanwhile, Kan'u and Chouhi continue to learn that there is more to family than blood relations. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Fuyu no Sonata Winter Sonata 冬のソナタ [Studio Comet, KeyEast, REALTHING] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Drama, Romance  Based on the Korean Drama of the same name, Yoo Jin falls in love with Joon Sang as a young girl. After losing him in an accident, she decides to marry her childhood friend. However, Yoo Jin meets someone looking exactly like her lost love, putting her in a bind. The program featured 23 members of the original Korean cast voicing the characters and was broadcast with Japanese subtitles. I consider Korean doramas to be over-emotional, unnatural, eagerly convenient and often dealing with terminal illnesses. And this particular dorama adaptation fits all the bad spots precisely, so excuse me, but I'm dropping it early for all the stupidity involved in it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Natsu no Arashi! Akinaichuu Summer Storm! Open for Business 夏のあらし!春夏冬中 [Shaft] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Time Travel Comedy, Romance, Supernatural The summer of a man's boyhood memories continue. Still on the cusp between childhood and being a man, he has linked with the ghost of a young woman from the World War 2 era. She, and the ghosts of other young ladies from that time, continue adventures alongside their linked partners, learning more about each other and travelling through time via their supernatural connection. While he struggles to see his crush on her come to fruition, meanwhile his friend—a girl his age, pretending to be a boy—seeks his attention as well. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Miracle☆Train: Oedo-sen e Youkoso Miracle Train: Welcome to the Oedo Line ミラクル☆トレイン〜大江戸線へようこそ〜 [Yumeta Company] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Fantasy  The first version of the Miracle Train project focused on the stations of the central Chuo line, while the new anime and related stories deal with the Oedo subway line. As a result, the anime will feature a newer cast of characters—specifically, Fumi Roppongi, Rintarou Shinjuku, Izayoi Tsukishima, Iku Shiodome, Saki Tochou, and Itsumi Ryougoku. Bishounens and train stations - just what I needed! (not). If this is not reverse harem, then I don't know what is.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Kiddy GiRL-AND キディ・ガーランド [Satelight] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Super Power Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi  Twenty-five years after Éclair and Lumière, (from the flagship Kiddy Grade series), rescued the galaxy from destruction's doorstep, the GTO (Galactic Trade Organization), created after the defeat of the GOTT (Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs), act on behalf of universal peace by combating criminal activity. Their special ES division mirrored after the GOTT's ES (Encounter of Shadow-work) force, now includes publicly acknowledged ES member candidates. The series follows two such trainees, Ascoeur and Q-feuille, as they work their way to ES membership. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Anyamal Tantei Kiruminzoo あにゃまる探偵 キルミンずぅ [Satelight] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Comedy  While searching for a run-away cat the twins Riko and Rimu Mikogami find a strange device that transforms them into "Kirumin." It also enables them to turn into real animals. Their older sister Nagisa soon joins them. Now the three have cute, funny and sometimes dangerous adventures. Kindergarten detective adventures with a bit of mahou shoujo spice is hardly something I can appreciate. But since distinguishing genre is comedy, let's see if humor makes it all great. And I did not spot ANY humor in the pilot episode if you don't consider girls kicking boys humor. And there's zero incentive to go further.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Tentai Senshi Sunred 2nd Season 天体戦士サンレッド [AIC ASTA] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Seinen Parody, Super Power Comedy The second season of Tentai Senshi Sunred. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Battle Spirits: Shounen Gekiha Dan バトルスピリッツ 少年激覇ダン [Sunrise] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Isekai, Military, Strategy Game Adventure Dan Bashin is a spirited teenager known for his aggressive playstyle in the card game Battle Spirits, earning him the title of "Clash King." One day, a mysterious green-haired girl transports him to the otherworldly land of "Grand Rolo," where disputes are settled by card duels. Upon his arrival, Dan is immediately thrust into a conflict between the kingdom's imperial army and its oppressed natives. There, he learns that he is a prophetic warrior known as a "bearer of cores' light," chosen to save the land from its evil king. Accompanied by a young boy named Zungurii and the eccentric witch Magisa, Dan travels across Grand Rolo and encounters the other chosen warriors through card battles. With the name of the Clash King gaining fame throughout Grand Rolo, secrets that lurk within the shadows of the kingdom's colonial past begin to surface. Only time will tell if Dan's campaign will affect the world on a scale much larger than he ever could have imagined. Sequel/Remake.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Gokyoudai Monogatari ご姉弟物語 [TV Asahi Music] (Finished 2/32) Tags: Comedy  Japan's TV Asahi network will premiere a television anime adaptation of Tetsu Adachi's Baka-Kyoudai (Idiotic Siblings) manga under the title Gokyoudai Monogatari (Sibling Stories) on October 10. The original manga has been running on an irregular schedule in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 1999. The story centers on a sister and her twin brother who live carefree lives in Tokyo's lower-class neighborhoods and have heartwarming encounters with the local people. It received an award of excellence at the 7th Cultural Media Arts Festival in 2003. Yuki Matsuoka will voice the sister Onei Jinushi, and Yumiko Kobayashi will play her twin brother Junichirō Jinushi. Sayaka Ohara will play the local restaurant waitress Shizuka. Not translated. Pretty nice comedy as if Shin-chan had a sister of the same age. Without translation there's no point to go on.   Overall Rating: 6/10   33. Wala! Pyeon-uijeom The Animation Welcome to Wara Store! 와라! 편의점 the animation [-] (Finished 0/24) Tags: Slice of Life  A comedy about three part time workers in a little convenience store and the zany customers they come in contact with. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   34. TO トゥー [Oxybot] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi Elliptical Orbit: Fifteen years after its last contact with our world, a space freighter known as the Flying Dutchman requests permission to dock at a remote moon base. This mysterious ship carries liquid protons: a power source essential to the survival of Earth’s population. But before the precious cargo can be delivered, the base is ambushed by galactic terrorists who seek to destroy the new form of energy and issue a death sentence to all of humanity. Symbiotic Planet: Against a backdrop of intergalactic colonization and bizarre alien life forms, Aon and Elena – star-crossed lovers from rival countries competing for valuable natural resources – struggle to build a life together despite the objections of their superiors. Their budding romance is thwarted by an outbreak of alien fungus and the interference of a cutthroat militaristic madman. To survive, the young couple must maintain their faith in each other and learn to trust the unique creatures which inhabit this strange and wondrous new world. Both stories are ok at best with familiar plots and so-so CG.   Overall Rating: 6/10   35. Kemono to Chat けものとチャット [Indeprox] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  Fifteen-year-old Chacha is a typical teen with an atypical talent: she can communicate with cats. Though her friend Mito thinks this is the coolest ability in the world, Chacha finds her unique skill to be annoying at best and disruptive at worst. Whether she's dealing with countless strays proposing marriage, neighborhood cats offering to help her with tests or waking up to 'presents' on her bed in the night, Chacha's normal school life will be anything but! Just short crudely drawn yonkomas that I struggle to call comedy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Ibara no Ou King of Thorn いばらの王 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Survival Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense "Medusa," a deadly virus becomes a worldwide epidemic. In order to escape from this deadly virus, a handful of people are chosen to be put into a cold sleep, laying in a capsule hoping for the future cure. Kasumi, a teenage girl is one of the 160 chosen for this procedure, and is guided to a Cold Sleep Capsule Center (CSCC) inside an ancient castle. Understanding that it is hardly possible, Kasumi goes to sleep still anticipating for a reunion with her twin sister Shizuku, who also is infected with the virus. As Kasumi and the others awake, they notice that the CSCC is not as they remembered. Just like the story of "Sleeping Beauty," the castle is covered with thorn, and the awaken are attacked by unknown creatures and monsters! How long were they asleep? Where did the monsters come from? What has happened to the world? Abandoned in the midst of an enigma, the escapade of the seven survivors begins... I'm always ready to acknowledge Sunrise achievements ... when it's not their original scenario. Can't say it's a special scenario, because it's widely used cryogenic stasis for years and awakening in the world where civilization is already dead. So it's just survival action with a small group of survivors that constantly gets even smaller. But execution is good and thorn theme for the whole world is fresh, plus there's an intrigue how it's going to end.   Overall Rating: 7/10   37. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Action, Adventure, Fantasy Ten years after the Great War against the demon-beasts, the empire rules over the world and prosperity relies on the massive use of aer. Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo are two young men who have just enrolled the ranks of the prestigious Imperial Knights. One day, they are sent to the town of Ceazontania, where abnormal aer activity has reportedly caused the proliferation of horribly mutated beasts, with serious threat for the whole region. Meanwhile, the Knights Supreme Commander Alexei Denoia and the naive Princess Estellise are involved in a behind-the-curtains struggle for power in the capital. The situation in Ceazontania deteriorates as the garrison of Imperial Knights finds that they cannot expect any immediate support from the capital. Then, Niren Fedrok, commander of the Imperial Knights in Ceazontania, takes an unexpected decision that is going to change Yuri and Flynn's destiny forever. What are the secrets behind the extraordinary events that are happening around Yuri and Flynn? Will they be able to defend the innocent people of Ceazontania and stay true to their beliefs? Probably the best part of the Tales of Vesperia series as it seems to be prequel to the game and not game material. Still it's only above average, because there aren't outstanding elements.   Overall Rating: 6/10   38. Buddha Saitan The Rebirth of Buddha 仏陀再誕 [Group TAC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Romance, Supernatural 17-year-old Sayako Amanokawa aspires to become a journalist, just like Kanemoto, an elite newspaper writer she looks up to. But Kanemoto, shamed from an erroneous report about a corruption scandal, jumps in front of a train and commits suicide. Since that incident, Sayako suddenly becomes able to see spirits and almost loses her life. However, from that near-fatal incident she experiences something extraordinary. The journalist inside her stirred, she embarks to find out about the truth. But the forces that stand in her way turn out to be much more formidable than she ever imagined. Tried to watch it normally, but it was so boring and slow and useless that I had to look at its origins only to know that it's another cultist movie Happy Science Movie 5. Since it's only harmful and superstitious, the score is corresponding.   Overall Rating: 4/10   39. Audition 오디션 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Music  A cartoon by CHUN Gye-young, which was one of the most popular cartoons in the late 1990’s, is made into an animation after 8 years of work. The film’s leading characters, with appearances typical for girls’ cartoons, are already popular as various licensed products. Four musical prodigies, who never had a chance to get a music education, meet in a band called ‘Recycled Band’. In the band, they open their minds to each other and follow their dreams in music. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   40. Romangeun Eobsda What Is Not Romance? 로망은 없다 [Korean Academy of Film Arts] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Drama  Hwang Soon-bok is a father of four who isn’t gifted with great looks. He likes to make plans on family occasions which, in most cases, end in disaster. His wife, Koh Young-sook, is a nice-looking lady with bit of a temper. And, there are three daughters and a son who got their looks and personalities from both parents. The family is sitting around a table eating late-night delivery food on the night of the parents’ wedding anniversary. The kids want to hear about how they got married and father and mother each tell their different versions of the story. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   41. Qiudao Fair Ways 球道 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy, Sports - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  17. kivandopulus
    No big titles again, but among minor masterpieces I'd call Hanamaru Youchien and Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu   1. Durarara!! デュラララ!! [Brain's Base] (Finished 13/24) Tags: Action, Mystery, Supernatural  In Tokyo's downtown district of Ikebukuro, amidst many strange rumors and warnings of anonymous gangs and dangerous occupants, one urban legend stands out above the rest—the existence of a headless "Black Rider" who is said to be seen driving a jet-black motorcycle through the city streets. Mikado Ryuugamine has always longed for the excitement of the city life, and an invitation from a childhood friend convinces him to move to Tokyo. Witnessing the Black Rider on his first day in the city, his wishes already seem to have been granted. But as supernatural events begin to occur, ordinary citizens like himself, along with Ikebukuro's most colorful inhabitants, are mixed up in the commotion breaking out in their city. I only knew about it that it was about a motorcycle rider, and actually that was enough for me to skip it. But watching it now, it reminds Baccano the most, and I dropped every single work of Takahiro Omori that I ever encountered. Durarara feels to me like creation of a maximalist youth who initially just invented character concepts that would be cool and then those concepts met each other and just fared somehow. Durarara sits on a very shaky foundation of mystique, coolness, irrationality, surprise and eclectic stories with multiple characters. In other words, it's just silly immature show-off without much essence - thus a waste of time for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Baka & Test - Summon the Beasts バカとテストと召喚獣  [SILVER LINK.] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Love Polygon, School Comedy, Romance Fumizuki Academy isn't a typical Japanese high school. This unique institution has implemented a new and innovative system to sort its students. At the end of their freshman year, students take a test that divides up the student body. The highest scorers are placed into A class, all the way down until F class, for the lowest of the low. Unfortunately for Akihisa Yoshii, his supposedly "great" intellect wasn't quite enough for such a test, and he's now stuck at the bottom of F class. Naturally, F class has the worst facilities: not only rotten tatami mats and broken tables, but also outdated equipment and worn out furniture. On the bright side, his friend Yuuji Sakamoto is in the same class, and to everyone's surprise, the genius girl Mizuki Himeji has also ended up in the same class due to an unforeseen fever on the day of the test. Unsatisfied with their perquisites, F class rallies behind Yuuji, determined to take on the higher-tiered classes in order to seize their perks by using the school's Examinations Summon Battle system. The participants can summon fantasy characters—whose power levels are equal to their student's test scores—in an all-out battle. Will F class be able to rise to the top, or will they live up to everyone's expectations and fail? Baka to Test was advertised in Seitokai no Ichizon gag anime a lot, and now I know why - it's a similar gag comedy. It's filled with mostly baka humor that I can't get to like.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Katanagatari 刀語 [White Fox] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts Action, Adventure, Romance In an Edo-era Japan lush with a variety of sword-fighting styles, Shichika Yasuri practices the most unique one: Kyotouryuu, a technique in which the user's own body is wielded as a blade. The enigmatic seventh head of the Kyotouryuu school, Shichika lives quietly in exile with his sister Nanami until one day—the wildly ambitious strategist Togame barges into their lives. Togame brazenly requests that Shichika help in her mission to collect twelve unique swords, known as the "Deviant Blades," for the shogunate. Shichika accepts, interested in the girl herself rather than petty politics, and thus sets out on a journey. Standing in their way are the fierce wielders of these legendary weapons as well as other power-hungry entities who seek to thwart Togame's objective. In order to prevail against their enemies, the duo must become an unbreakable team as they forge ahead on a path of uncertainty and peril. Needed to watch it since it's from monogatari series and yet seemingly very different. And in fact it is similarly inventive in terms of personalities and SOL. But plot is just collecting blades with some sidetracking, and I can't say I enjoyed it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Seikon no Qwaser The Qwaser of Stigmata 聖痕のクェイサー [Hoods Entertainment] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Seinen Super Power Action, Supernatural, Ecchi When Tomo Yamanobe's father—the former headmaster of Saint Mikhailov Academy—disappeared, he left nothing behind except for a piece of art called the "icon." Soon after his disappearance, rumors of a serial killer attacking female students of the academy began to spread. As Tomo and her sister Mafuyu Oribe head home after being tormented at school, Tomo trips over an injured silver-haired boy who abruptly vanishes while being tended to. Mafuyu goes to look for him, only to discover that the church holding the icon is burning down. When she tries to save the painting, the rumored serial killer suddenly attacks her with a mysterious ability to control magnesium. Appearing out of nowhere, the silver-haired boy, who can control iron, rescues Mafuyu. Mafuyu finds out that the boy, named Alexander Nikolaevich "Sasha" Hell, is a "qwaser"—a being who is capable of controlling an element through the power of "soma," received through the act of breastfeeding. Confused by the ordeal, Mafuyu attempts to move past it with little luck, as Sasha transfers to her class the next day. What will become of Tomo and Mafuyu's normal school life with the danger of other qwasers looming close to them? This ecchi sucks, literally, as it's needed for super powers or something. First three episodes lack excitement and I don't see a good story here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Omamori Himari まもりひまり [Zexcs] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Shounen Harem, Mythology, School Action, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi After the death of his parents, Yuuto Amakawa lives a pretty ordinary life in the city. The only problem he has to worry about while attending school alongside Rinko, his next-door neighbor, is his cat allergies. That all changes on his sixteenth birthday, when an Ayakashi—a supernatural creature—attacks him for the sins of his ancestors. Luckily, he is saved by Himari, a mysterious cat-woman with a sword, who explains that Yuuto is the scion of a family of demon-slayers, and she is there to protect him now that the charm that kept him hidden from the supernatural forces of the world has lost its power. Omamori Himari chronicles Yuuto's dealings with the various forces of the supernatural world, as well as the growing number of women that show up on his doorstep, each with their own dark desires. Will Yuuto be able to adjust to his new "exciting" environment? Or will the ghost of his (ancestor's) past catch up with him? A rather generic ecchi harem with some fighting.   Overall Rating: 5/10   6. Dance in the Vampire Bund ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Vampire Action, Drama, Romance, Supernatural On live television, Mina Tepes, the ruler of all vampires, reveals the existence of her species to the world and states her plan to build a sanctuary in Japan for vampires, called the Vampire Bund. Using her family's wealth to pay off the nation's debt, they have agreed to let her build this safe-haven for her fellow creatures of the night. But not everyone is so easily swayed by Mina's influence, as her announcement brings about conflict with humans who believe that the queen's quest for peace is a façade. Akira Kaburagi does not believe in vampires and gets uneasy whenever they are brought up, although he has yet to realize why. Apart from suffering a head injury a year ago, he lives on blissfully until he meets Mina. She triggers within him memories of a life he had long forgotten, and he soon begins protecting her without understanding why. But Akira's secret is far stranger than he could have ever thought possible—he discovers that he is a werewolf, sworn from birth to protect the vampire queen, even if it costs him his life. Now, as these two dance a rondo of death in the Vampire Bund, Mina and Akira find out just how deep their bond goes. Not sure whether I like it or not. The ideas of de-masquerade and modern covenant are great, but I just consider vampires boring as a whole, and no great conflict was paved as a result.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Ladies versus Butlers! れでぃ×ばと! [Xebec] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Hino Akiharu lost his parents when he was small and was adopted into his uncle's family. He didn't want to be a burden on his uncle's family and decides to enter a free boarding school as a butler, Hakureiryou high school. However, his delinquent boy-like appearance frightens the girls, who make up the majority of the students. Unable to get along with the classmates, Akiharu meets his childhood crush Saikyou Tomomi. One of the most erotic ecchi up to this day, and I did not find any other advantages.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. So Ra No Wo To Sound of the Sky ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Iyashikei, Military, Music Sci-Fi, Slice of Life On the outskirts of the country of Helvetia rests the tranquil town of Seize. Upon its cobbled streets, citizens go about their daily lives, undisturbed by the increasingly tense military relations between Helvetia and the neighboring Roman Empire. It is under these circumstances that the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian army, stationed at the Clocktower Fortress in Seize, receives a new recruit in the young and spirited Kanata Sorami. Having joined the military to fulfill her dream of learning to play the bugle, she excitedly accepts the tutelage of the Sergeant Major, Rio Kazumiya, who happens to be a skilled trumpeter. Working alongside them are the aloof mechanic, Noël Kannagi, the feisty gunner, Kureha Suminoya, and the compassionate Captain Felicia Heideman; together, they experience the beauty of life in Seize and the lasting joy of a community that has persevered in spite of the crumbling world around them. There was little sense in the story, but Deus Ex Machina ending just nullified even that.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Nodame Cantabile: Finale のだめカンタービレ フィナーレ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Josei Adult Cast, Music Comedy, Romance Shinichi Chiaki is quickly making a name for himself as the principal conductor of the revitalized Roux-Marlet Orchestra, and Megumi "Nodame" Noda has made leaps and bounds as a pianist at the Conservatoire de Paris. However, tensions mount between the two as Nodame feels left behind by Chiaki's growing success and his close friendship with legendary piano prodigy Rui Son. Disregarding her teacher Professor Charles Auclair's advice, Nodame enters another piano competition in an attempt to jumpstart her own performance career. Meanwhile, those around Chiaki and Nodame are at their own crossroads. Rui begins to doubt herself after hearing Nodame's playing and being denied tutelage from Auclair; Maestro Franz von Stresemann faces the reality of his mortality; pianists Yunlong Li and Tatiana Vishneva feverishly prepare for a competition, while the latter also struggles with her growing feelings for oboist and fellow student Yasunori Kuroki. As Chiaki, Nodame, and their friends continue on their respective journeys, they must not only strive to stay true to themselves, but also remember where it all started. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Hanamaru Youchien Hanamaru Kindergarten はなまる幼稚園 [Gainax] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Childcare Comedy, Slice of Life Anzu goes to a kindergarten with her friends, the shy Koume and the eccentric Hiiragi. Together they try to make their caretaker, Tsuchida Naozumi, fall in love with Anzu. However, he is clearly more interested in the pretty Yamamoto Nanako, a fellow kindergarten teacher who supervises the class next door. Even though Anzu tries to convince Tsuchida to marry her when she grows up by using various methods. Tsuchida, on the other hand, hopes to get a chance to date Yamamoto, and, if not, to marry her. I quite liked it when watched it for the first time. It's more in the league of K-ON with cuteness, but at least can be fun at times. And since I gave borderline masterpiece even to K-ON...   Overall Rating: 7/10   11. Ookamikakushi Okamikakushi: Masque of the Wolf おおかみかくし [AIC] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Action, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Due to his father's job, 15-year-old Hiroshi Kuzumi and his family move to the mountain town of Jouga. While some teenagers might have to worry about fitting in or feel out of place in a new environment, Hiroshi is welcomed enthusiastically at school by most of his new classmates. In fact, it seems like they just can't get enough of him, and he makes two friends rather quickly: the clingy and overly-affectionate Isuzu Tsumuhana, who is also his neighbor; and Kaname Asagiri, who also recently moved to Jouga. All in all, Hiroshi's new life seems to be quite normal—until people start disappearing. Hiroshi is told that the missing townsfolk have simply moved away or suddenly transferred, but he can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Meanwhile, in the dead of night under a red moon, masked individuals led by a girl with a scythe stalk their prey in the darkened streets of Jouga. Who are they, and are any of the residents safe from their wrath? Why most mysteries are so pretentious and silly. It's confusing, surface-scratching and just a poor collection of stamps gathered everywhere bit by bit.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Chuu Bra!! Chu-Bra!! ちゅーぶら!! [Zexcs] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Ecchi The story centers on Nayu, a middle school girl who shocks her schoolmates on the first day of school by wearing black lace panties. She likes this kind of underwear, and she tries to "spread the word on the merits of [these kinds of] underwear" via an underwear club with her schoolmates, who are worried about their bodies' development and which underwear to choose. First underwear fetish series... and it even has underwear school club - very cringy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Heartcatch Precure! ハートキャッチプリキュア! [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/49) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Action, Comedy, Fantasy Young flower enthusiast Tsubomi Hanasaki is often modest and quiet. But with her family moving to a new town, she aims to reinvent her image at her new school as someone more confident and outgoing. On moving day, she dreams of a mysterious tree in the sky guarded by a warrior named "Cure Moonlight." Tsubomi quickly learns that this was no ordinary dream when she encounters two mysterious fairies—Chypre and Coffret—who are being hunted down by a strange woman. When the woman summons a giant monster to attack the city, Tsubomi finds herself transforming into a warrior to fight the enemy! Taking on the alias "Cure Blossom," Tsubomi learns that the woman is part of a villainous group that aims to turn the world into a lifeless desert, with her new duty being to stop it from happening. As Tsubomi continues to battle more monsters and uncover the secrets behind Cure Moonlight, will she find the confidence needed to overcome her timid nature? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Hidamari Sketch x ☆☆☆ ひだまりスケッチ×☆☆☆ [Shaft] (Finished 1/12) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei, School, Visual Arts Comedy, Slice of Life When we first met Yuno, she'd just been accepted to the prestigious Yamabuki Art School, and it was up to her new neighbors at Hidamari to help her find her way in the big scary world. Now a seasoned vet of the Hidamari Apartments herself, Yuno's newest challenge is to help the latest arrivals, Nazuna and Nori, acclimate to life on their own. Of course, since it IS Hidamari, there are still lots of trials and tribulations ahead, and nothing will ever go quite as expected. But with friends like Miyako, Hiro, and Sae ready to lend a hand, there will always be a ray of sunshine at the end of every storm in Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Cobra The Animation  [Magic Bus] (Finished 4/13) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Space Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi This Cobra adaptation features short arcs of Cobra saving the world, his friends or himself. I thought OVAs were prequels as dealt with background stories. But this series is a prequel as well as Cobra still has both hands here and deals more or less inside one planet. Not bad retro futuristic action series, but not great either.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn 機動戦士ガンダムUC（ユニコーン） [Sunrise] (Finished 7/7) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Drama, Sci-Fi In the year Universal Century 0096, three years after Char Aznable's failed attempt to force human migration into space, life continues in the colonies orbiting Earth. One such colony, at Side 4, is home to Banagher Links, a 16-year-old who lives a quiet life among his classmates. Audrey Burne, the last descendant of a great tyrannical family, takes it upon herself to steal the key to a mysterious device known as "Laplace's Box." It is said that the Box has the power to shape the course of the universe, and Audrey travels to Side 4 in an attempt to take it from its current holder and keep it from the Sleeves, the surviving remnant of Char Aznable's Neo-Zeon. In her search, she stumbles across Banagher and changes his life forever. When Side 4 comes under the attack of the Sleeves and its prolific fighters Marida Cruz and Full Frontal, Banagher takes control of the newly built Gundam Unicorn to defend his friends and protect the fate of humankind. No experimenting this time, just another simple straightforward story with one protagonist and just a bit of different flavor. All those self-repeats are nauseating.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. よんでますよ、アザゼルさん。 [Production I.G] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Seinen Gag Humor, Mythology Comedy, Supernatural The great detective Akutabe has an assistant, Rinko Sakuma, who is trying to learn to summon demons. This is the story of her misadventure when she actually manages to summon 2 demons unexpectedly. Ugly nonsense with comedy on the level of hitting a girl in the face so that her eyes fall out and then turning her into milk cow while retaining human anatomy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya 涼宮ハルヒの消失 [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Award Winning, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural  On a cold December day, Kyon arrives at school prepared for another outing with his fellow SOS Brigade members. However, much to his surprise, he discovers that almost everything has changed completely: Haruhi Suzumiya and Itsuki Koizumi are nowhere to be found; Mikuru Asahina does not recognize him at all; Yuki Nagato is a regular human; and Ryouko Asakura has mysteriously returned. Although he is no stranger to the supernatural, Kyon is disturbed by this odd turn of events and decides to investigate on his own. Finding himself to be the only person that is aware of the previous reality, Kyon is now faced with a difficult choice: to finally live the normal life he has always wanted, or uncover a way to turn back the hands of time and restore his chaotic yet familiar world. A really memorable movie from Haruhi.   Overall Rating: 7/10   19. Higashi no Eden Movie II: Paradise Lost Eden of The East the Movie II: Paradise Lost 東のエデン 劇場版II Paradise Lost [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Suspense  As one of the 12 Seleção that needs to save the country in order to win a game, Akira Takizawa decided to become the "King of Japan." With that in mind, after his return from the U.S.A., the remaining Seleção will also need to follow up on their own plans as they strive to outdo each other. Saki Morimi and the other members of the "Eden of the East" are under suspicion of being terrorists, but they still do everything they can to help Takizawa reach his goal and unravel the secrets of his past, as the last fight between the Seleção begins. Just wanted to go to the end with this. And no, movie did not miraculously mend anything.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Uchuu Show e Youkoso Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW 宇宙ショーへようこそ [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Space Adventure, Fantasy Five elementary school children are spending their summer break camping at a remote mountain village. While on a hunt for their missing rabbit, Pyon-kichi, they find an injured dog in a field with crop circles. After nursing the dog back to health, they are shocked when he suddenly speaks and introduces himself as Pochi Rickman—an alien researcher who has been on Earth researching its plant life. As thanks for saving his life, Pochi offers to take the children to the moon on a sightseeing trip. When they arrive, the group quickly discovers that the moon hides a vast alien metropolis which they begin to gleefully explore. Unfortunately, after hearing that Pochi was severely injured on his mission, the government of the moon issues a travel sanction on Earth, preventing the children from returning home. Left with no other choice, the group journeys around the galaxy in search of a way to safely return to Earth. Amidst their adventure, they are pursued by aliens affiliated with "The Space Show," the universe's most-watched production shrouded in mystery. Another Ghibli copycat that's only passable for younger audience.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Kao An Port of Return 靠岸 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Award Winning  Frostlight, a naive girl, disregards the fortuneteller's warnings, and tries too hard in keeping Westwind's heart. Her attempts catch the attention of Asura, and a war breaks out. Frostlight quickly boards a mysterious ship and departs on a perilous and fantastic journey. This strange ship carries a cast of helpless, tormented souls as it drifts through a mysterious space, unable to make port. The souls fear that Asura could strike at any moment and send them to the Asuran Realm, never to return. Visuals look like a bit advanced flash. Story is total nonsense jumping randomly in all directions. There's still a long way till Chinese masterpiece anime.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  18. kivandopulus
    Several borderline masterpieces spotted - Kaichou wa Maid-sama! , Working!! and Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail with Working!! taking a tender place in my heart.   1. Angel Beats! Angel Beats!（エンジェルビーツ!）  [P.A. Works] (Finished 13/13) Tags: School Drama, Supernatural Death is one of many mysteries that has left humanity in the dark since the dawn of time. However, the burning question of what happens to the soul after one dies is soon answered to 17-year-old Yuzuru Otonashi. Waking up with no previous memories in a dimension between life and death, he discovers the unsettling truth of the afterlife. Taking the form of a high school, this bizarre dimension is designated to shelter those who died unwanted deaths. Feeling wronged by God during their earthly lives, the school's residents have decided to form the Afterlife Battlefront—a rebellious faction determined to oppose their god-like student council president, Kanade "Angel" Tachibana. The group's leader, Yuri Nakamura, recruits Otonashi in their fight against Angel in order to take control of their own lives. However, questioning the morality behind their actions, Otonashi takes a step behind the enemy lines to understand the opposing side of their common fate. I had pretty good impression of Angel Beats when I watched it in the past. But now I can't understand how I could like it. Probably impression got mixed up with High school of the dead. The setting is totally wasted on SOL activity and rather ridiculous conflict with a small girl. It does not transcend the usual visual novel concept of getting emotional with the girls.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Maid Sama! 会長はメイド様! [J.C.Staff] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance Misaki Ayuzawa is a unique phenomenon within Seika High School. In a predominantly male institution, she became the first-ever female student council president through her honesty and diligence. Ever since Misaki got promoted to the position, she has been working tirelessly to ensure a better school life for all girls. Despite that, Misaki is very strict with the boys, which has earned her the title "Demon President." One day, after hearing a girl cry in the hallway, Misaki encounters Takumi Usui—the most popular boy in the school—as he rejects a love confession. Enraged at what she is seeing, Misaki reprimands him for making the girl cry. However, Usui is indifferent and brushes it off as nothing. Unexpectedly, Misaki soon runs into Usui again, but this time when she is working at a maid cafe! Embarrassed that someone has found out about her secret occupation, Misaki promises herself not to let Usui destroy her reputation. However, the mysterious boy now begins to visit the same cafe regularly to observe and tease Misaki. When push comes to shove, will Usui still be able to keep the president's secret? I referenced it so many times that it's evidently a masterpiece in my opinion. It takes a lot from His and Her circumstances and puts it on more modern rails. But this extension to 26 episodes makes the whole middle really episodic, and some episodes feel better than the others. Impression might be even better if I did not watch it all in two sittings.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. K-On!! K-ON! Season 2 けいおん!! [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 26/26) Tags: CGDCT, Music, School Award Winning, Comedy It is the new year, which means that the senior members of the Light Music Club are now third-years, with Azusa Nakano being the only second-year. The seniors soon realize that Azusa will be the only member left once they graduate and decide to recruit new members. Despite trying many methods of attracting underclassmen—handing out fliers, bringing people into the clubroom, and performing at the welcoming ceremony—there are no signs of anyone that plans to join. While heading to the clubroom, Azusa overhears Yui Hirasawa say that the club is fine with only five people and that they can do many fun things together. Changing her mind, she decides that they do not need to recruit any members for the time being. K-On!! revolves around the members of the Light Music Club as they experience their daily high school life. From rehearsing for concerts to just messing around, they are ready to make their last year together an exciting one! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Kiss x Sis (TV) キスシス [feel.] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Seinen Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi After Keita Suminoe's mother passed away, his father promptly remarried, introducing two step-sisters into Keita's life: twins Ako and Riko. But since their fateful first encounter, a surge of incestuous love for their younger brother overcame the girls, beginning a lifelong feud for his heart. Now at the end of his middle school career, Keita studies fervently to be able to attend Ako and Riko's high school. While doing so however, he must resolve his conflicting feelings for his siblings and either reject or succumb to his sisters' intimate advances. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately for Keita—his sisters aren't the only women lusting after him, and there's no telling when the allure of temptation will get the better of the boy as well. OVA was way too ecchi for TV, so the only part that interests me here is how all those situations get normalized. And it indeed has become much more lighthearted with nudity shifted to undies for the most part. But at least it feels serious.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou Demon King Daimao いちばんうしろの大魔王 [Artland] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem, School Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi Dreaming of changing the world for good, Akuto Sai transfers to Constant Magic Academy where he befriends a virtuous ninja clan member, Junko Hattori. On the way to the academy, they vow to make the world a better place together; however, the situation suddenly takes a turn for the worse upon his arrival—it is prophesied that he will become the Demon King! As word of his destiny spreads, the school begins to fear him, and Junko's trust in him falters. While Akuto is determined to not let his predicted future control his fate, it seems as though everything he says and does only serve to reinforce the fact that he is destined to be the Demon King. Moreover, he is surrounded by a harem of beautiful girls who each have their own plans for him, ranging from bringing him to justice to simply showering him with love. With his newly awakened powers, Akuto must cope with his constantly growing list of misfortunes and fight to prove that his fate is not set in stone. Concept and beginning are quite nice. But it gets more confusing and covered in ecchi and is followed by swift resolution, so I can't call it integrate or even amusing.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei The Tatami Galaxy 四畳半神話大系 [Madhouse] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Psychological, Time Travel Award Winning, Comedy, Mystery, Romance One autumn evening at a mysterious ramen stand behind the Shimogamo Shrine, a lonely third-year college student bumps into a man with an eggplant-shaped head who calls himself a god of matrimony. Meeting this man causes the student to reflect upon his past two years at college—two years bitterly spent trying to break up couples on campus with his only friend Ozu, a ghoulish-looking man seemingly set on making his life as miserable as possible. Resolving to make the most out of the rest of his college life, the student attempts to ask out the unsociable but kind-hearted underclassman Akashi, yet fails to follow through, prompting him to regret not living out his college life differently. As soon as this thought passes through his head, however, he is hurtled through time and space to the beginning of his years at college and given another chance to live his life. Surreal, artistic, and mind-bending, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei chronicles the misadventures of a young man on a journey to make friends, find love, and experience the rose-colored campus life he always dreamed of. Wow, now I know where Sonny Boy came from. And I really detested Sonny Boy. Horrible art and characters designs, abstract story with pretentious and empty investigation of emotions blah-blah-blah. Praising such works is encouraging more of such works to show up.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Working!! Wagnaria!! ワーキング!! [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Romantic Subtext, Workplace Comedy Due to his love for small, cute things, Souta Takanashi cannot turn childlike Popura Taneshima down when she recruits him to work for Wagnaria, a family restaurant located in Hokkaido. Takanashi takes particular joy in doting on the older Popura, which only fuels her complex over how young she looks. He also quickly learns he must stay on his toes once he meets the rest of his colleagues, including the katana-wielding floor chief Yachiyo Todoroki, the intimidating head chef Jun Satou, the dangerously well-informed and subtly sadistic sous chef Hiroomi Souma, the adamantly lazy manager Kyouko Shirafuji, and the waitress Mahiru Inami who has a "painful" fear of men. Powered by an eccentric cast, Working!! is a unique workplace comedy that follows the never-dull happenings within the walls of Wagnaria as Takanashi and his co-workers' quirky personalities combine to create non-stop antics, shenanigans, and hilarity. I watched everything from Wagnaria and quite enjoyed it. There are a lot of nice characters. But can't say it's especially memorable by humor or story, and I also would not want to rewatch it as I remember relations quite well, and there aren't many more incentives to repeat it all. I guess I'll set with score 7.   Overall Rating: 7/10   8. Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin Rainbow RAINBOW 二舎六房の七人 [Madhouse] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Seinen Delinquents, Historical Drama, Suspense Japan, 1955: Mario Minakami has just arrived at Shounan Special Reform School along with five other teenagers who have been arrested on serious criminal charges. All assigned to the same cell, they meet older inmate Rokurouta Sakuragi—a former boxer—with whom they establish a close bond. Under his guidance, and with the promise that they will meet again on the outside after serving their sentences, the delinquents begin to view their hopeless situation in a better light. The seven cellmates struggle together against the brutal suffering and humiliation inflicted upon them by Ishihara, a sadistic guard with a grudge on Rokurouta, and Gisuke Sasaki, a doctor who takes pleasure in violating boys. Facing such hellish conditions, the seven inmates must scrape together all the strength they have to survive until their sentences are up; but even if they do, just what kind of lives are waiting for them on the other side? I remember trying it at least twice and dropping both times as I was not interested in male prison friendship story. Having finished it now, can't say I like it. First half feels a lot as Ashita no Joe prison arc, second half is just personal stories getting development one by one. Some characters and stories are fine, some aren't. There's a lot of forced drama and unrealistic behavior done in very straightforward manner and therefore with constant stroke of luck involved. In my opinion, it lacks qualities for a masterpiece even though I welcome such unusual kind of story in anime.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. B-gata H-kei Yamada's First Time: B Gata H Kei B型H系 [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Seinen School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Most people, including the girl herself, would say that first year high school student Yamada is beautiful and perfect. Despite this, she is working towards a peculiar goal: to have sex with one hundred men by the end of high school. Trying to put some sense into her head, Yamada's best friend, Miharu Takeshita, points out a major flaw in that plan—she is completely inexperienced with men. However, the reason behind this is that Yamada thinks her lady parts look strange and believes others will judge her for it. As a result, Yamada decides that her first time must be with a fellow virgin, since they will not hurt or scare her. After a fateful encounter, she sets her sights on the shy and average Takashi Kosuda, an aspiring photographer with a heart of gold. With contending rivals for his affection and her own raging hormones, Yamada must find ways to seduce Kosuda and take his cherry. However, as she gets closer to Kosuda, she finds herself increasingly enjoying their time spent together. The concept is set in stone, so only situations are going to multiply the further it goes. And I like contemporary ecchi comedies not tied by one concept more as there's more depth in them.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Arakawa Under the Bridge 荒川アンダー ザ ブリッジ [Shaft] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Romance  Kou Ichinomiya is the son of a wealthy businessman who holds a firm belief in his elite status. As such, he is determined to avoid becoming indebted to anyone; but one day, after a run-in with some mischievous kids on Arakawa Bridge, he ends up falling into the river running underneath. Luckily for him, a passerby is there to save him—but now, he owes his life to this stranger! Angered by this, Kou insists on paying her back, but this may just be the worst deal the arrogant businessman has ever made. The stranger—a stoic, tracksuit-wearing homeless girl known only as Nino—lives in a cardboard box under the bridge and wants only one thing: to fall in love. Asking Kou to be her boyfriend, he has no choice but to accept, forcing him to move out of his comfortable home and start a new life under the bridge! I tried to watch everything seinen, so of course finished this one, and I got no strong feelings towards it. It has strong comedy start and some amusing inhabitants with protagonist presenting a rationalizing look on all this weirdness. Overall, humor is good, but not conceptual enough - more of reactional one.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Hakuouki Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ 薄桜鬼 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Josei Historical, Samurai Action, Drama, Supernatural In 1864 Japan, a young woman named Chizuru Yukimura is searching for her missing father, Koudou, a doctor by trade whose work often takes him far from home. But with no word from him in months, Chizuru disguises herself as a man and heads to Kyoto in search of him. Attracting the attention of ronin, she tries to hide and ends up witnessing a horrifying sight: the ronin being brutally murdered by crazed white-haired men. In a startling turn of events, members of the Shinsengumi arrive to dispatch the creatures. But Chizuru's safety doesn't last long, as this group of men tie her up and take her back to their headquarters, unsure of whether to let her live or silence her permanently. However, once she reveals the name of her father, the Shinsengumi decide to keep her safe, as they too have been searching for him. But Koudou is more connected to the Shinsengumi than they let on, and soon Chizuru finds herself embroiled in a conflict between the Shinsengumi and their enemies, as well as political tension in Kyoto. It's adaptation of long-standing otome visual novel series. As for me, it's bishounen reverse harem and thus can't stand it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Mayoi Neko Overrun! Stray Cats Overrun! 迷い猫オーバーラン! [AIC] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Harem Comedy, Romance Takumi Tsuzuki is a high school student who attends the Umenomori Private Academy, free of charge, alongside Fumino Serizawa, a childhood friend of his whom always says the opposite of what she feels. He spends most of his time at school fending off Chise Umenomori, the granddaughter of the board chairman and a pampered princess, who is constantly roping him into her eccentric hobbies. After school, he goes to work at the "Stray Cats" confectionery, a cake shop run by his adoptive older sister, Otome Tsuzuki, until it's time to go to bed. This is the average routine in the day and the life of Takumi. Mayoi Neko Overrun follows another seemingly average day in the life of Takumi. With his sister away from the shop, having gone to save someone else in need of help, Fumino takes it upon herself to wake him up so that he won't be late for their usual walk to school together, giving him a glimpse of her blue and white striped panties in the process. What a nice way to start the day. When Otome returns home, she brings with her a girl named Nozomi Kiriya, whose hair and mannerisms resemble that of a large cat. It turns out that she is a runaway that Otome can't help but take in. Takumi's ordinary days are transformed into splendid chaos as he tries to unravel who this mysterious beauty is and what she's running away from... Pretty random SOL harem with various tilts and several archetypes. Can't say it's worth the time spent.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Saraiya Goyou House of Five Leaves さらい屋 五葉 [Manglobe] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Historical, Samurai Drama Masanosuke "Masa" Akitsu is a wandering ronin adrift in Japan's peaceful Edo period. Despite being a skilled swordsman, Masa's meek personality has netted him the label "unreliable," and he is often abruptly dismissed by his employers, leading him to question his resolve as a samurai. As Masa reaches his lowest point, he is approached by Yaichi, a carefree man draped in pink who seemingly hires him on a whim as his bodyguard. Unbeknownst to Masa, the job is not as innocent as it seems, and he is drawn into the illicit activities of the group spearheaded by Yaichi. As he becomes further entwined with the gang known as the Five Leaves, Masa struggles with his own principles. Still, his curiosity spurs him forward to uncover the past and motivations of this mysterious band of outlaws. This early seinen starts to be synonym for suffering. Why drawing has to be so ugly each time? So expect a slow dull pathetic development done randomly by unmotivated people. If it's not synonym to waste of time, it's quite close.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Giant Killing ジャイアントキリング [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Seinen Team Sports Drama, Sports East Tokyo United (ETU) has been struggling in Japan's top soccer league for the past few years. It has taken everything they have just to avoid relegation. To make matters even worse, the team has lost five matches in a row, leading to abysmal team morale. Even the fans are beginning to abandon them, and rumors hint that the home ground municipality is going to withdraw their support. With countless coaches fired and poor financial choices in hiring players, it is a downward spiral for ETU. The board of directors, under pressure from general manager Kousei Gotou, takes a gamble and hires a new coach—the slightly eccentric Takeshi Tatsumi. Though considered a great soccer player when he was younger, Tatsumi abandoned ETU years ago. However, since then, he has proven himself successful as the manager of one of England's lower division amateur teams. Tatsumi's task won't be easy; ETU fans call him a traitor, and the team is pitted against others with larger budgets and better players. Yet even the underdog can take down a goliath, and Tatsumi claims he is an expert at giant killing. Don't want to block Sports tag as it's a very broad concept and is often involved with girls who do things in a cute way, but don't expect me to enjoy pure spokons.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Bakugan Battle Brawlers: New Vestroia Bakugan: New Vestroia 爆丸バトルブローラーズ New Vestroia [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Strategy Game Adventure, Fantasy After the final downfall of the rogue Bakugan Naga, peace was brought back to Vestroia. With the help of Danma Kuusou, his companion Pyrus Dragonoid, and other Battle Brawlers, the Infinity and Silent Cores were combined and the realm was recreated. However, New Vestroia will not be given any respite as humanoid alien invaders, the Vestals, arrive and conquer the Bakugan world in one fell swoop. Armed with a fearsome machine capable of restricting Bakugan into their ball forms, they aim to enslave the race as a form of entertainment. Now, the only force standing in their way is the Bakugan Battle Brawlers Resistance—a group of humans, Bakugan, and Vestals who oppose the idea of annihilating a sentient race. Led by Danma, they must venture into enemy-occupied New Vestroia and repel the invaders, to assure the survival of the entire world. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Major S6 メジャー 第6シリーズ [SynergySP] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Shounen Team Sports The intense Baseball World Cup has reached its conclusion. Gorou Honda has regained his passion for baseball and is once again back in full gear. He has secured a team position with the Hornets and has travelled back to America to prepare for his spectacular debut as a Major League pitcher. However, Gorou encounters a sudden series of unexpected issues and devastating events follow, crushing his motivation and potentially reducing the baseball career that he has worked tirelessly to maintain into crumbs. In the final season of Major, Gorou must yet again overcome immense hardship in order to save his baseball career. This time there is no simple solution, as the problem is deeply rooted within his own mind... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor 一騎当千 Xtreme Xecutor [Arms, TNK] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Martial Arts, School, Super Power Action, Ecchi Life gets crazy for Hakufu when she takes on a pupil that acts just like her! A tournament between the school heads start, but due to Hakufu's negligence, her pupil ends up taking her place. The tournament isn't what it seems, and the girls find themselves in the middle of a plot to take over the clans. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Senkou no Night Raid Night Raid 1931 閃光のナイトレイド [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Historical, Military, Super Power Action The year is 1931. The city is Shanghai. Ten years before America will enter World War II, the hydra's teeth planted by the first great global conflict are beginning to germinate. Hatching like spiders, they weave the complex web of plots and conspiracies destined to inevitably draw entire nations to the brink of destruction. Caught in the heart of these webs, desperately seeking to separate lies from truth, is "Sakurai Kikan," an ultra-secret intelligence agency staffed by extraordinarily talented individuals with abilities far beyond those of normal humans. Their duty: to stop the darkest plots and eliminate the greatest threats. But in a city built on intrigue, can even a team of clairvoyants, telepaths and espers stand against the ultimate forces of destiny? I have prejudice against espers with superpowers, especially when team of such espers investigates some case or mystery. Only some outstanding cast could save it, but of course it did not happen.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Ookiku Furikabutte: Natsu no Taikai-hen Big Windup! 2 おおきく振りかぶって　〜夏の大会編〜 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Seinen Team Sports Picking up where the original series left off, Ren Mihashi, the ace pitcher of the newly-formed Nishiura High School baseball team, and his teammates face the Sakitama High School team in the next round of the High School Baseball Invitational Tournament as they aim to play in the finals at legendary Hanshin Koushien Stadium. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Heroman ヒーローマン [Bones] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Action, Sci-Fi In California's Center City, shy but kindhearted Joseph Carter "Joey" Jones lives with his grandmother, working in a coffee shop. Though his family is financially burdened and he is bullied at school, he remains cheerful. A robotics enthusiast, he wants a top-of-the-line toy robot called a Heybo more than anything. One day Joey and his friend Simon "Psy" Kaina come across a destroyed Heybo discarded by a group of rich kids. He takes it home and repairs it himself, excitedly naming it Heroman. However, one night Heroman is struck by lightning and comes to life, growing several times its size in the process. That same night Center City is attacked by aliens called Skrugg whose attention was brought to Earth after Joey's acquaintance Professor Matthew Denton made attempts to contact them. Along with Joey, Heroman quickly heads to the scene of the attack, where he finds people in trouble, including his friend Lina Davis and her father. Using an arm-mounted controller, Joey is able to command Heroman to use superpowers to fight off the Skrugg and rescue civilians. As the aliens continue their invasion of Earth, the duo are the only ones separating humanity and destruction. I facepalmed several times just while reading the synopsis. I was absolutely sure it was story from some 70s as it's too simple to be modern. Being put to modern rails, story still has a lot of limitations. Execution and characters are ok, but in the end it's just a boring shounen that has little to remember it by.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Shin Koihime†Musou: Otome Tairan 真恋姫†無双 ~乙女大乱~ [Doga Kobo] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Historical Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi The third season of Koihime Musou.  Han's high court general Kashin (何進) was forced to swallow a cursed pill from Chou Jou. The effect is slowly turning her into a cat, which she dislikes. Chou Jou also made use of the emperor's name to dispose her from the Han court as a traitor. She met Kada during her escape while Kada brought her to the Touka village, whom he believes they would help her. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Jewelpet Twinkle☆ ジュエルペット てぃんくる☆ [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Shoujo Anthropomorphic, School Fantasy In Jewel Land, Jewelpets, creatures who has the natural ability to use magic lived in harmony with the Witches, attending the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn to use magic with their Jewel Eyes. However for Ruby, a white Japanese Hare whose magic sometimes fail, is appointed to go to the Human World to search for her partner. But when she used the card the magicians gave her, she was sent to the Human World by accident. In the Human World, A girl named Akari Sakura met her on the beach on her way to school. At first, Akari can't understand her due to her Jewel Land Language until Ruby took a special candy so she could speak and understand human language. As the day passes, Ruby knew about her problems and later apologized. A Jewel Charm appeared on Akari's hand and she realized it that she's chosen by Ruby to be her partner. After that, she decided to enter the Jewel Star Grand Prix, on the prize is that any wish that they wanted will be granted. Will she be the Next Jewel Star and her wish be granted in the end? Or It'll just end in one big disaster... Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Hime Chen! Otogi Chikku Idol Lilpri Spellbound! Magical Princess Lilpri ひめチェン! おとぎちっくアイドル リルぷりっ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Fantasy The Fairytale World is in trouble. Its princesses and their respective worlds are disappearing, causing a ripple effect in the human world where their stories are popular. In order to save the Fairytale World, the Queen sends three magic animals, Sei, Dai, and Ryoku, to the human world with magic gems to find three girls who can become the "Super Miracle Idols," the princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Kaguya-hime. Those "princesses" end up being three little girls: Yukimori Ringo, Takashiro Layla, and Sasahara Natsuki. But the gems transform them into older singing superstars, and after their accidental debut at the singer Wish's concert, they become known as "Little Princesses," or "LilPri." Now they must collect Happiness Tones from humans in order to restore the Fairytale World. Mahou shoujo for younger audiences. I see only cringe stamps here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors SDガンダム三国伝 Brave Battle Warriors [Sunrise] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Historical, Mecha Action A Romance of the Three Kingdoms retelling using SD Gundams. Well, I'm fond of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I had to sample it... but it's the worst and most artificial version that I've ever seen. I'm puzzled of why it can exist at all.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou Second Collection The Best!! Extremely Cool Student Council President Second Collection 極上!!めちゃモテ委員長 セカンドコレクション [Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Shoujo School Comedy, Romance The continuation of Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou with a new title. Episode numbers continue from 51. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Saikyou Bushouden: Sangoku Engi The Legend of the Strongest General: Romance of the Three Kingdoms 最强武将传·三国演义 [Hisashishi Videos, TOMY Company] (Finished 5/52) Tags: Historical Future Planet, Beijing Huihuang Animation Company Chinese-Japanese anime adaptation of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" classic novel. Lui Bei embarks on a journey to quell the chaos that plagues his homeland, bringing with him his sworn brothers, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. With only a small army and no land Lui Bei is forced to take a subservient role to other Generals, in order to keep him safe from those who continually come after his life. It might be the best version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but only five episodes are translated, so there's a limit to the score I can give in such state. I'll definitely bookmark it to check the rest later.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Ring ni Kakero 1: Kage Dou-hen リングにかけろ1 影道編 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/6) Tags: Shounen Action, Sports After defeating Black Shaft's makeshift Team America, the Golden Japan Jr. team returns to training for the World Tournament that will be held in Tokyo. But during training the Shadow Clan, which uses boxing as an assassination technique, kidnaps Kiku in order to lure Ryuji and the others into a fight to see who's truly the better representatives of Japan's junior boxers. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Choegang Habche: Mix Master Mix Master: Final Force 최강 합체 믹스마스터 [Sunwoo Entertainment] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Mix Masters Final Force is the second season of the original mix masters show. In this story, Ditt forgets that he was a mix master. But when the time comes to save the world once again, he finds new friends to help him in his battle against Eva and Babel, the two new antagonists. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail [Madhouse] (Finished 5/5) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Organized Crime Action Crime never sleeps in Roanapur, and neither does Roberta—a devoted maid and skilled guerilla soldier in service to the Venezuelan Lovelace family. After the assassination of her superior by the US Secret Service, Roberta returns to the city of debauchery in search of vengeance and his killer's head. Meanwhile, young Fernando Garcia Lovelace, the new heir to his father's estate, tails Roberta to Thailand alongside his bodyguard, Fabiola Iglesias. He enlists the help of the Lagoon Company, with the objective of deterring Roberta's warpath and bringing her back to the family. However, with the continued bloodshed and mounting tensions between Roberta, island crime factions, and the US military, it will take a significant amount of strategy—and weaponry—to stop her relentless quest for revenge. A worthy Swan Song for Black Lagoon.   Overall Rating: 7/10   30. Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu Today We Start Our Love 今日、恋をはじめます [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shoujo School Romance Hibino Tsubaki is a shy, kind, and slightly old-fashioned girl who has always been the top student in her class. She always did everything her parents wanted her to do. She loved to do other girls' hair in trendy and cute styles, despite always wearing plain braids herself. On her first day of high school at the opening ceremony, she is astonished to see that the top student giving the opening speech is not only somebody else, but also the rudest boy she has ever seen. This delinquent turns out to be her new classmate, Kyouta Tsubaki. Kyouta teases Hibino, drawing attention to their similar last names. The two are both top of their class, but are different in every other way. Even though it seems that they cannot stand each other, fate has something else in store for them… Total ripoff as only some culmination moments are cut into two not even full episodes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Gintama Movie 1: Shinyaku Benizakura-hen Gintama: The Movie 劇場版 銀魂 新訳紅桜篇 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Historical, Parody, Samurai Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Gintoki and his Yorozuya friends (or rather, employees suffering under labor violations), Shinpachi and Kagura, continue to scrape by in the futuristic, alien-infested city of Edo. They take on whatever work they can find while trying not to get involved in anything too dangerous. But when Katsura, the leader of the Joui rebels and Gintoki's long-time acquaintance, disappears after being brutally attacked by an unknown assassin, Shinpachi and Kagura begin an investigation into his whereabouts and the identity of the assailant. Meanwhile, Gintoki takes on a seemingly unrelated job: the blacksmith Tetsuya requests that Gin recover a strange and powerful sword called the Benizakura which was recently stolen. As the two investigations gradually intersect, the Yorozuya crew find themselves in the midst of a major conspiracy that hinges on the sinister nature of the Benizakura sword. Gintoki resolves to take the fight directly to the enemy headquarters, and together with a few unexpected allies, sets out on one of his most perilous jobs yet. I do value at least one Gintama movie over the series, but definitely not this first movie.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Trigun: Badlands Rumble Trigun - Badlands Rumble [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Vash the Stampede is a contradiction. He has a notorious reputation as "The Humanoid Typhoon," laying anything he comes across to waste on the desolate planet of Gunsmoke. However, Vash is in fact very non-confrontational and kind-hearted, living by a code of pacifism. Twenty years ago, a high-profile bank heist went sour. The ringleader, Gasback Gallon Getaway, swore to get back at his backstabbing crew and the man who stopped him from killing them: Vash the Stampede. In the present day, the traitorous crew has been living the good life as successful entrepreneurs and politicians. Although two decades have passed, Gasback's bitterness has not waned as he aims to take them down one by one, by any means necessary. Just in time to foil Gasback's plot, Vash has arrived in Macca City. Teaming up with the mysterious Amelia Ann McFly, along with the insurance agents Milly Thompson and Meryl Stryfe, Vash is ready to rumble. Just wanted to recheck, maybe I missed something in Trigun. And that's not the case as I see now, because Trigun was never too deep - it's just action, humor, cool characters. This time there are more varied bandits than usual, a new female acquaintance and more colorful environment.   Overall Rating: 6/10   33. Break Blade Movie 1: Kakusei no Toki Broken Blade ブレイク ブレイド 覚醒ノ刻 [Production I.G, Xebec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha, Military Action, Fantasy Rygart Arrow is different compared to the other people in the continent of Cruzon: he is unable to control quartz, branded an "un-sorcerer." Despite this, he still befriends the future king and queen of Krisna—Hodr and Sigyn—as well as Zess, the younger brother of the Athens Commonwealth's Secretary of War. Several years later, Rygart discovers that there is a war brewing between Krisna and Athens. While visiting Binonten, the capital city of Krisna, he learns that his misfortune as an un-sorcerer enables him to pilot an ancient Golem, a unique ability that quartz-wielding users lack. As Zess leads one of the Athenian strikes upon the capital, Rygart joins the battle with his newfound power in hopes of mending the schism between the two nations. I don't like mecha and fantasy fusion, and all the mecha that I appreciate are mecha vs stronger powers like Bokura no and Evangelion, not some eternal civil war powered by revenge and misunderstanding. And Break Blade fails to impress so far as it has not gone far from Gundams yet with magic hardly having any meaning.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Break Blade Movie 2: Ketsubetsu no Michi Broken Blade 2 ブレイクブレイド 訣別ノ路 [Production I.G, Xebec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Second Break Blade movie. Bleak continuation with development of usual rival/friend ties etc - basically a filler.   Overall Rating: 6/10   35. "Bungaku Shoujo" Movie 劇場版“文学少女” [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Drama, Mystery, Romance  The protagonist of the story, Konoha Inoue, is a seemingly normal senior high 2nd year student. His high school life, other than a hinted incident 2 years ago, can be summed up as normal- if one can dismiss the secret fact that he used to be a female bestselling romance author. Due to that incident, however, he has now vowed never to write again. This continued on until he was forced to join the literary club by the literary club president, the 3rd year female student Amano Tooko, a beautiful girl who has a taste for eating literary works. Now he has been tasked with writing her snack every day after school. Just introduce a memorable concept and can slack on the rest - that's basically what happened.   Overall Rating: 5/10   36. Hetalia Axis Powers Movie: Paint it, White Hetalia Axis Powers: Paint it, White! 銀幕ヘタリア Axis Powers Paint it, White (白くぬれ！) [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Parody Comedy One day, aliens from the planet Pict launch a devastating invasion on Earth. Their sole purpose is to transform all of humanity into "Noppera"—featureless creatures with plain white skin, glowing antennae, and no face. This prompts the world's nations to counterattack, but they are all ultimately defeated, as they each launched their offensives separately. And so, both the Allied and Axis nations of Hetalia Axis Powers Movie: Paint it, White must band together and unite their powers to stop the alien invasion and save their planet. I can't stand anime with episodes of approximately 5 minutes long, so could not bring up series, but I can get acquainted through a movie. Wide use of 3D. Concept of just getting together to withstand aliens is terrible. Characters representing states and reproducing stamps are super cringy. I'm glad I skipped the series.   Overall Rating: 5/10   37. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 18: Chou Jikuu! Arashi wo Yobu Ora no Hanayome クレヨンしんちゃん 超時空！嵐を呼ぶオラの花嫁 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi Comical action adventure film set in the future world, like a dystopian science fiction. Shinnosuke's future fiancee, Tamiko Kaneari comes from the future via the time machine. She says her father Masuzo Kaneari captures adult Shinnosuke in the future world and they needs the power of Shinnosuke at age 5 to rescue him. She takes Shinnosuke and Kasukabe Defense Forces members to the future big city Neotokio, which is the world ruled by Masuzo Kaneari, the president of the electric power company Kaneari Electric. Time travel to future is rarely a good choice. So after main intrigue of how old Shinnosuke looks like  there's nothing to look forward to. It was actually nice to see the future versions of kindergarten kids. But enjoyment is not enough for a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   38. Planzet プランゼット [Sentai Filmworks] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi In 2047, an unknown, alien life-form descends upon the Earth, destroying all the major cities in one fell swoop. The survivors unite and build a Diffusor to stop the Februus, the invaders the military would later codename the FOS, and a temporary peace is achieved. Jump forward to 2053, the present. PLANZET: The final plan, Plan Zed, to retake Planet Earth. A last, desperate counterattack against the enemy. Hiroshi Akishima, soldier in the Planetary Defense Forces Alliance, would like nothing better than a shot at the aliens responsible for his father's death six years ago. However, the new offensive requires the Diffusor to be dropped, leaving the entire planet terribly vulnerable once more. Will humanity regain the stars or lose everything in the final, ultimate gamble? It's full CG and graphic feels imperfect - slightly above average compared to Advent Children. Concept is pretty much mecha against UFOs. All mecha have one weak side - they have ammo for like x3 shots and they never know how much ammo is left - it repeats over and over to absurdity. Deus Ex Machina is on the rise by the end, so impression is severely dented.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Junod Dr. Junod ジュノー [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Medical Drama Mii and Yuko, two junior high school students are visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on a school trip when they come upon a monument dedicated to Dr. Marcel Junod standing forlornly in a corner of the park. They wonder who Dr. Junod was and what he did. Just then they are bathed in a strange light and transported back to Europe, more than 70 years before. It is 1935. The young Dr. Junod, who has been working in a hospital in Mulhouse, France, is heading to Ethiopia as a delegate of the ICRC. Time travelers Mii and Yuko set off along Dr. Junod's path of hardship and turmoil. In Ethiopia, Dr. Junod witnesses attacks on Red Cross workers and the use of poison gas. One after another people are felled. The young doctor sees firsthand the horrors of war, but buoyed by an indomitable spirit he willingly offers a helping hand to those who are suffering as a result of the war. Dr. Junod's work takes him from Ethiopia to Spain and across the European battlefields of World War II. He works to improve the treatment of prisoners of war and arranges prisoner exchanges. He establishes a method for prisoners and their families to write to each other. He secures routes for the delivery of relief supplies. As a humanitarian, Dr. Junod offers moral support to the weak. Seeing that, Mii and Yuko reflect on their own lives and problems. Red cross SOL is quite boring, and two time travelling girls don't really help.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Piercing I 刺痛我 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama  Due to the financial crisis, many factories in China are forced to close their doors in late 2008. Zhang Xiaojun loses his job in a shoe factory. One day, a supermarket guard beats him up, thinking Zhang is a thief. In vain, he asks the supermarket manager for financial redress. Zhang’s dearest wish is to return to his village and become a farmer. But right before his departure, the police arrest him. The supermarket manager also has his problems. On a moonlit night, the storylines converge in a teahouse near the city rampart. Chinese amateur movie, so visual quality is non-existent. Social commentary on 2008 crisis hitting China is unwelcome. Can't find any appeal points in here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   41. Chao Wa Zhanshi AniMen: Triton Force 超蛙战士 [Shanghai Hippo Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mecha, Military, Space Action, Sci-Fi Over time, the people residing on Swampland began to take on new forms, their modified DNA altering their physiology to better suit their new environment. Generations passed and their original forms were forgotten; these humans had evolved into a new race: the Frogmen. If history (and genetics for that matter) shows us anything, it is that there is always variety. The genetic "success" of the Frogmen was also mirrored by the "achievements" of another group of human descent: the Cockroaches, otherwise known as the T-zhu Alliance. The brutal T-Hy poured out into the galaxy seeking new territories, resources, and the data crystals left by the original human explorers. The T-Hy's material driven hunger broke the peaceful lives of the Frogmen forcing them to take up arms in order to stop the T-Hy's insatiable ambitions. So began the MALO war. Full CG, reminds PS2 when deals with characters. Rebel nation challenges empire. Space mecha fights don't have exposition, so look confusing. It all feels like a boring computer game.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Jianzhen da Heshang 鑑真大和尚 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Educational, Historical  In 742 A.D., the first year of Xuantianbao in Tang Dynasty, Japanese monks Rongrui and Puzhao heard of the reputation of Monk Jianzhen, and they went to Daming Temple in Yangzhou to meet with Monk Jianzhen and invited him to Japan to teach the Dharma. The Great Monk Zhen carried forward the Dharma for Dongdu. After five failures, including the death of his disciples, the obstruction of the government, and even blindness in both eyes, etc., he still did not change his ambition. He combined the then prosperous Chinese Buddhism with Chinese medicine, art, and architecture, literature, etc., were transmitted to Japan by water. Monk Jianzhen not only introduced precepts to complete the Japanese Vinaya sect, but also indirectly influenced the rise of two masters in the history of Japanese Buddhism—Kukairen of Shingon and Saicheng Master of Tendai Sect, and thus developed the development of Japanese Buddhism in the Heian and Ikura periods. Heyday. In terms of cultural influence, the architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, painting, medicine and even people's daily necessities introduced by the master Dongdu left the Tang culture with a precious and rich heritage in Japan. That is why Monk Jianzhen was praised as the "giant of balance culture" in Japan. Through the presentation of animation, this film hopes to introduce the public to understand the life of a generation of masters. Not translated. Ancient monk biography bringing Buddhism from China to Japan feels really bleak   Overall Rating: 5/10
  19. kivandopulus
    I value Highschool of the Dead as a firm masterpiece and Amagami SS as honorary masterpiece.   1. Highschool of the Dead 学園黙示録 HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD [Madhouse] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Gore, Survival Action, Horror, Supernatural, Ecchi It happened suddenly: The dead began to rise and Japan was thrown into total chaos. As these monsters begin terrorizing a high school, Takashi Kimuro is forced to kill his best friend when he gets bitten and joins the ranks of the walking dead. Vowing to protect Rei Miyamoto, the girlfriend of the man he just executed, they narrowly escape their death trap of a school, only to be greeted with a society that has already fallen. Soon, Takashi and Rei band together with other students on a journey to find their family members and uncover what caused this overwhelming pandemic. Joining them is Saeko Busujima, the beautiful president of the Kendo Club; Kouta Hirano, an otaku with a fetish for firearms; Saya Takagi, the daughter of an influential politician; and Shizuka Marikawa, their hot school nurse. But will the combined strength of these individuals be enough to conquer this undead apocalypse? Loved it both times I watched it. But it can't be called intellectual. There's more ecchi and fillers that I would prefer, and ending is pretty much open, so 8 is the maximum score it can get.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. Shiki 屍鬼 [Daume] (Finished 4/22) Tags: Shounen Gore, Psychological, Vampire Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense Life is idyllic and unassuming in the small town of Sotoba, a simple place where everyone knows everyone. However, tragedy strikes when Megumi Shimizu, a young girl with high aspirations, unexpectedly passes away from an unnamed illness. Over the torrid summer months, as more unexplained deaths crop up around the village, the town's doctor—Toshio Ozaki—begins to suspect that something more sinister than a mere disease is at play. Toshio teams up with Natsuno Yuuki, an apathetic and aloof teenager, and siblings Kaori and Akira Tanaka, two of Megumi's friends, to unravel the dark mystery behind the deaths in Sotoba. With their combined efforts, the investigation leads them toward an eerie secret pertaining to the new family in the Kanemasa mansion. Wow, another title that gathers a whole bunch of irritations for me - Vampire Suspense Detective Medical Mystery. Up to episode 4 there are at least several deaths per episode and very thick references to vampires, and still zero successes in investigation. I don't understand why move further - to discover vampires? It felt really boring for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Kuroshitsuji II Black Butler II 黒執事II [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Historical, Mythology Action, Comedy, Supernatural The stage of Kuroshitsuji II opens on the life of Alois Trancy, the young heir to the Trancy earldom. Though he is privileged now, such was not always the case for the hot-tempered boy. Kidnapped and forced into slavery at a young age, he was eventually rescued and returned home, only to have his beloved father pass away soon after. However, there are certain individuals who doubt Alois' story and legitimacy. And rightfully so, because things in the Trancy household are not as they appear, starting with Alois' black-clad butler with supernatural abilities, Claude Faustus. Who exactly is the mysterious Claude, and what connection does he have with Alois? Amid the web of lies and deceit running rampant in the mansion, the bond between Alois and Claude will be tested as hell itself arrives at their doorstep. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Seitokai Yakuindomo Student Council Staff Members 生徒会役員共 [GoHands] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, School Comedy On his first day of high school at the formerly all-girl's Ousai Private Academy, Takatoshi Tsuda is called out for his untidy uniform by the student council president Shino Amakusa. In apology for delaying Takatoshi for his first class—and stating that the group needs a male point of view to accommodate the arrival of boys at the school—Shino offers him the position of vice president of the student council. Though unwilling, Takatoshi finds himself appointed as the newest member of the student council having yet to even step foot inside the school building. Takatoshi soon realizes that the other student council members who are more than a little strange: President Shino, who is studious and serious in appearance, but actually a huge pervert, fascinated with the erotic and constantly making lewd jokes; the secretary Aria Shichijou, who may seem like a typical sheltered rich girl, but is just as risque as the president, if not more so; and finally, the treasurer Suzu Hagimura, who may act fairly normal, but has the body of an elementary school student and is extremely self-conscious of it. Surrounded by these colorful characters, the new vice president must now work through a nonstop assault of sexual humor and insanity. Just situational school yonkoma with distinguishing feature being sexualization of everything. Can't say it's memorable.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Amagami SS アマガミSS [AIC] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Harem, School Romance Two years ago, Junichi Tachibana had a date on Christmas Eve but was stood up instead. Since then, he has had a hard time showing others his true feelings in fear of being rejected again. However, as luck would have it, Junichi may have a second chance at love when he meets several girls whom he becomes romantically interested in: Haruka Morishima, the energetic and popular upperclassman with a love for cute things; Kaoru Tanamachi, his childhood friend who harbors secret feelings for him; Sae Nakata, the timid transfer student who is shy around men; Ai Nanasaki, a girl on the swim team who has a bad first impression of Junichi; Rihoko Sakurai, a childhood friend with a love for sweets; and Tsukasa Ayatsuji, a seemingly perfect class representative who has a hidden dark side. As Christmas Eve approaches, Junichi can only hope that this will be the year he will finally spend the holidays with the one he truly loves. It's the paragon for dating sim adaptations. Execution is great. But 7 is because there's just romance with several girls and no glimpse of some bigger story, and because it's 25 episodes, and I'm not fond of couple girls.   Overall Rating: 7/10   6. Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 伝説の勇者の伝説 [Zexcs] (Finished 8/24) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy  "Alpha Stigma" are known to be eyes that can analyze all types of magic. However, they are more infamously known as cursed eyes that can only bring destruction and death to others. Ryner Lute, a talented mage and also an Alpha Stigma bearer, was once a student of the Roland Empire's Magician Academy, an elite school dedicated to training magicians for military purposes. However, after many of his classmates died in a war, he makes an oath to make the nation a more orderly and peaceful place, with fellow survivor and best friend, Sion Astal. Now that Sion is the king of Roland, he orders Ryner to search for useful relics that will aid the nation. Together with Ferris Eris, a beautiful and highly skilled swordswoman, Ryner goes on a journey to search for relics of legendary heroes from the past, and also uncover the secrets behind his cursed eyes. I watch everything from fantasy, but I don't remember a single thing about Legend of the Legendary Heroes. And watching it now I'm absolutely sure I'll forget it all in an instant, because heroes and humor are bland, and story is non-existent with concept of gathering relics. With every new scene irritation only piles up, so it's better to stop relatively early in such case.   Overall Rating: 5/10   7. Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi Okami-San and Her Seven Companions オオカミさんと七人の仲間たち [J.C.Staff] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Parody Comedy, Romance Tomboy Ryouko Ookami is a fierce boxer and the assigned bruiser of her club. Of course, no normal high school club needs a bruiser, but the Otogi Bank operates more akin to an actual bank. Here, the students can ask for favors from the club as long as they promise to return the favor in the future. Sixteen-year-old Ryoushi Morino is a shy boy, a far cry from the Otogi Bank members. To his biggest surprise, after unsuccessfully confessing to Ryouko, he inadvertently finds himself joining the club! Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi follows the everyday lives of the Otogi Bank members as they tackle favors that range from the mundane to the dangerous. However, since Ryoushi's sole motivation is to win Ryouko over, she doubts he will be able to have her back in a fight, especially when he can't even stand having people look at him—much less fight anyone! I absolutely can't understand why this episodic random mashup was needed. And narrator makes his every appearance an irritation. Can't even call it decent.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Nurarihyon no Mago Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan ぬらりひょんの孫 [Studio Deen] (Finished 4/24) Tags: Shounen Mythology Action, Supernatural Rikuo Nura, a part-youkai and part-human boy, grew up as the young master of the Nura Clan. Comprising youkai of all shapes and sizes, Rikuo treated the clan like family, however, he learned that he was the only one among his classmates who saw them in this light. To most, they were terrifying creatures of folklore who ate children and relished in bloodshed. Taking this to heart, he swore to live his life as a normal human. Normalcy, however, is hard to come by for young Rikuo. Complicating his goal are his youkai attendant, who under the name Tsurara Oikawa, goes to school alongside him; the young onmyouji Yura Keikain; and his close friend Kiyotsugu, who idolizes youkai and hopes to prove their existence. To make matters worse, rival youkai and other entities threaten to harm those Rikuo holds dear. If he wants to protect what's important to him, Rikuo must acknowledge his ancestry—that he is the grandson of the legendary Nurarihyon—and transform at night into a youkai, becoming worthy of being the next leader of the Nura Clan. Absolutely can't stand all these youkai clan hunting or whatever. Totally tasteless.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Sekirei: Pure Engagement セキレイ～Pure Engagement～ [Seven Arcs] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Seinen Harem, Super Power Action, Comedy, Ecchi The second stage of the battle royale known as the Sekirei Plan is underway. Shintou Teito has been closed off; no Sekirei or Ashikabi may leave. Minato Sahashi and his harem of Sekirei must now prepare to fight new battles as changes to the rules are put into place. However, not all groups will return to the battle: some Sekirei are loved very much by their Ashikabi partners, who would rather forfeit the prize than see them perish. In the midst of the action, someone close to Minato may be more involved than he had ever imagined, and threats lurk around every corner. There are even rumors that the "Single Numbers," the most powerful type of Sekirei, have entered the fray. In the eyes of the "Game Master" Minaka Hiroto, everything is proceeding according to plan. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Asobi ni Iku yo! Cat Planet Cuties あそびにいくヨ! [AIC PLUS+] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Kio is just another boring, nice guy with a boring, nice life until he meets a beautiful, curvaceous cat-girl while attending a memorial service for one of his ancestors. Next thing he knows, he's lying in bed with this half-naked beauty next to him! Her name is Eris, and she has come to Earth to learn more about its inhabitants as a representative of the planet Catian. And she's decided to set up shop at Kio's home for her stay on Earth! Unbeknownst to Kio, there are quite a few organizations who will attempt to capture Eris, looking to keep her existence a secret by any means necessary. What's worse is when people around Kio turn out to secretly be a part of those organizations! Kio will have to work hard to keep Eris safe from these shady groups. Things are about to get mysterious, exciting, and most importantly sexy in Asobi ni Iku yo! Trashy harem ecchi with alien catgirls, what else to say.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Mitsudomoe みつどもえ [Bridge] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, School Comedy, Slice of Life The 11-year-old Marui triplets could not be any more different. The oldest one, Mitsuba, is sadistic and kind of mature for her age. The middle one, Futaba, is perverted and very athletic and has the strength of a full-grown man. The youngest one, Hitoha, is generally very quiet and gentle but when push comes to shove, she might just be the strongest, the most perverted and the most sadistic out of the three. The three are all in the same class, led by the newly graduated teacher Yabe Satoshi. He usually gets pushed around by the girls and, on occasion, abused but the triplets also try to lead him and the new school nurse, the clumsy Kuriyama Aiko, together. However, Yabe had no intention of dating Aiko and the methods the triplets use to accomplish their goal are highly unorthodox... It's something that remotely imitates Kodono no Jikan , but adds a lot of random chaos, usually linked to underwear. The result is indigestive.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Occult Academy 世紀末オカルト学院 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 4/13) Tags: School, Time Travel Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural The story revolves around Maya, the daughter of the former Headmaster of Waldstein Academy, and a time traveling agent Fumiaki Uchida. In the year 2012, the world had been invaded by aliens and time travelers were sent back to the year 1999 in order to find and destroy the Nostradamus Key, which Nostradamus Prophecy foretold as what would bring about the apocalypse. The series then turns to the year 1999, where Maya returns to the Academy with the intention of destroying the Academy by superseding her late father's position as the principal. Her plan was interrupted when she meets Fumiaki and learns of the forthcoming destruction. Despite being distrusting towards Fumiaki, they form a pact to look for the Nostradamus Key. In order to find the Nostradamus Key, time agents were provided with specially created cell phones. When a user finds an object of interest, by thinking of destroying it and taking a photo, and if the resulting image is that of a peaceful world, then the subject is the Nostradamus Key. Conversely, if the subject is not the Nostradamus Key, then the photo displays destruction. By using the phone, Maya and Fumiaki investigates occult occurrences as they occur in the town. Time travel occult mystery automatically means trash for me. I sampled it, and it was horrible. Random episodic horror events and terrible abusive interaction between characters.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Strike Witches 2 ストライクウィッチーズ 2 [AIC Spirits] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Action, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Military Six months have passed since the victorious Battle of Britannia and the reclamation of Gallia from Neuroi invaders. Yoshika Miyafuji, member of the famed 501st Joint Fighter Wing, has come back home to Fuso and graduated from middle school. However, her fight is far from over. She receives a letter supposedly sent by her long-deceased father, containing blueprints of a state-of-the-art Striker Unit he had been working on before his death. The Unit, designed specifically for Yoshika, might be capable of harnessing her extraordinary magical powers. Meanwhile, a new threat in Europe is rising. A Neuroi nest of an unprecedented size and might has appeared over Venezia, wiping out local Witch forces and instantly swallowing the northern part of the country. To make matters worse, a newly spotted humanoid type of Neuroi is attempting to come into contact with humans. Yoshika, incapable of abandoning her friends on the front lines, must once again venture to the war-torn continent. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Sengoku Basara Ni Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings 2 戦国BASARA 弐 [Production I.G] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai, Super Power Action The deadly confrontation with the Devil King, Oda Nobunaga is over, but the struggle for supremacy continues in Warring Countries-era Japan, as the armies of Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin repeatedly engage battle at Kawanakajima. Meanwhile, on the easternmost side of the battlefield, two outstanding characters bound by destiny—one clad in azure and the other in crimson—are about to clash in a long-awaited, decisive duel. Then a sudden dispatch informs that a huge army has surrounded the forces of Takeda, Uesugi and Date at Kakanakajima. Their leader is Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man who inherited Nobunaga's dreams and ambitions, and who is now going to bring havoc over Japan once again! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Digimon Xros Wars Digimon Fusion デジモンクロスウォーズ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/30) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  The Digital World is in a state of war, with the evil Bagra Army attempting to collect fragments of the Code Crown. Whoever manages to collect all 108 fragments will become king of the Digital World. An evil group of Digimon, known as the Bagra Army, are determined to get their hands on the Code Crown. Digimon Xros Wars features Taiki Kudou, a soccer-loving middle schooler who will always go out of his way to help people in need. When out with his friends Akari Hinomoto and Zenjirou Tsurugi one day, he hears a voice calling out for help. Investigating the situation, he meets a Digimon named Shoutmon who has been severely wounded in a nearby alley. Using the power of a strange device called a Xros Loader, Taiki manages to save Shoutmon's life, but is pulled into the Digital World alongside Akari and Zenjirou. Determined not to let the evil Bagra have their way, Taiki and his friends join with Shoutmon and other local Digimon to form their own army known as Xros Heart. Now Xros Heart must fight their way across the Digital World to collect Code Crown fragments and defeat the Bagra Army, but Taiki and his friends are not the only humans caught up in this war of monsters… Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Shukufuku no Campanella Blessing of the Campanella 祝福のカンパネラ [AIC] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem Adventure, Fantasy The story takes place in a trading city Ert'Aria. Leicester Maycraft is an item engineer belonging to an adventurer guild "Oasis." One night, he is at a party with his friends to see a meteor stream on the rooftop of a chapel. One meteor grazes them and hits the steeple of the chapel. There he finds a secret room and a sleeping girl. The girl wakes up and says "You must be my father!" The encounter with the mysterious girl brings an unexpected adventure to Leicester. Medoicre visual novel, mediocre anime. Boring and full of stamps.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Chao Zhi Neng Zu Qiu GGO Football 超智能足球 [Puzzle Animation Studio Limited] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Comedy, Sports As we enter the 21st century, the relationship between sports and technology is getting closer and closer. Sports products are enhanced by technological advances. The designs of footballs and football shoes require detailed information and computer tests in order to produce products that will allow us to reach the full potential and beyond. If we were only reliant on human testing, the standards would definitely fluctuate greatly. Thus, Professor GGO was brought in as consultant in the research, and as a result GGO robotic footballers were created. Childish spokon.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Agukaru Agriculture Angel BARAKI あぐかる [Studio PuYUKAI] (Finished 1/5) Tags: Slice of Life, Supernatural  Set in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki, Agukaru centers around Sanae Baraki, a farmer’s daughter who can see spirits. Every day she works on her field together with such spirits to produce the best agricultural goods. However, there is a group that aims for that field. With the blessing of the earth, she transforms into Agriculture Angel Baraki. Not translated. Childish nonsense about agriculture.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Black★Rock Shooter (OVA) ブラック★ロックシューター [Ordet] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, Super Power Action, Drama On her first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi meets Yomi Takanashi. Though Yomi is initially taken aback by Mato's straightforward personality, the pair quickly becomes friends and begin to spend time together daily. As a sign of their friendship, Mato gives Yomi a cell phone charm—a blue star, identical to her own. However, when the two enter their second year, their relationship starts to change. Placed in a different class, Mato begins to spend more time with Yuu Koutari instead, a girl she met through the basketball team. In fact, the former best friends drift apart so much so that Mato cannot find Yomi anywhere, as if she had disappeared entirely. Elsewhere, Black★Rock Shooter is on a quest to vanquish the Dead Master. These two, while opposed, bear a connection not unlike Mato and Yomi. As their stories begin to cross, it seems Yomi's disappearance may have to do with the blue star-shaped charm and the legendary gunslinger herself. The plot begins like any Persona game with some mature drama added, but 50 minutes was not enough to tell a story, so will wait for TV series.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Tamayura たまゆら [Hal Film Maker] (Finished 4/4) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life As a child, Fuu "Potte" Sawatari and her late father would often visit his hometown of Takehara and take pictures of the surroundings together. Now, five years since their last visit, Fuu and her family have moved to the town so that she can start attending high school. Although her father has been deceased for some time, Fuu carries on his legacy through her love of photography and the pictures she takes with his old camera. Believing that photographs have the power to turn the ordinary into something wonderful, Fuu and her friends grab every opportunity they can to capture the magic of everyday life on film and bring happiness to someone in the world who might need it. Watched it earlier too, and it's just another unmemorable SOL, this time about photography.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Kuttsukiboshi くっつきぼし [Primastea] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Drama, Girls Love, Romance, Supernatural To Kiiko Kawakami, there was nothing in the world as important to her as Aaya Saitou. Something about her allured Kiiko to the extent that there was no sound sweeter to her ears than Aaya's voice and no sight more beautiful than her hair softly billowing in the wind. It was for that reason she let Aaya in on her secret: last year, she had gained psychic powers from an accident that changed her life. Kuttsukiboshi is a story of infatuation and romance between two girls as their feelings for one another reach the tipping point. Unable to deny their heartfelt desires, the two give into them and make many sweet memories together around the school—testing the bounds of Kiiko's powers and how far they can go without being caught in the midst of their trysts. However, will things remain as they are when Kiiko discovers the love of her life has a dark secret of her own? OVA format and short length make it all go fast and personal, and it does not have time to grow into something.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. HenSemi 変ゼミ [Xebec] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Ecchi Matsutaka Nanako is a normal university student, who happened to enroll in an Abnormal Physiology seminar. She tries to keep her mental state sound, but other abnormal classmates start to influence her personality... Basically, a club of studying Hen with a supervisor. It's watchable, but can hardly be recommended.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Karigurashi no Arrietty The Secret World of Arrietty 借りぐらしのアリエッティ [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Award Winning, Fantasy While spending the summer at his aunt's house, the young but sickly Shou makes an amazing discovery: after following the house cat into the bushes, he gets a glimpse of a miniature girl about the size of his finger! Calling her kind "Borrowers," as they survive on tiny bits of human possessions, the girl introduces herself as Arrietty. As he discovers that she lives in the house basement with her parents, Pod and Homily, Shou becomes imaginably excited at the idea of such unique neighbors. However, he fails to understand the adversities they face on a daily basis. In addition to keeping their existence hidden, they must also embark on perilous adventures into human territory, from the house to the outdoors, in order to make a living. Despite her parents' warnings, Arrietty befriends Shou, stirring up unexpected events that may change their lives forever. Delighting the eye and conquering the heart, the breath-taking story of a friendship transcending the tensions between two different human kinds begins. So antagonist catches lilliputs and then they are getting away with the help of protaognist... it's very weak in story department, but will do for kids.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Colorful (Movie) Colorful: The Motion Picture カラフル [Sunrise, Ascension] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Award Winning, Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural  Upon arriving at the train station of death, an impure soul is granted a second chance at life against his will. Reincarnating into the body of Makoto Kobayashi, a 14-year-old boy who recently committed suicide, the soul is tasked to identify the boy's greatest sin in life within a time limit of six months. Although it remains reluctant toward continuing life as Makoto, the soul soon begins to notice the complexities of people's emotions and actions. Deconstructing the ideas of fractured families and suicide, Colorful explores the intricacies of the daily struggles humans face but are too abashed to confront. A rather boring social movie teaching to value life. Over two hours of slow-paced SOL and long shots is exhausting. Guess need to be emotional to properly appreciate it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Break Blade Movie 3: Kyoujin no Ato Broken Blade 3 ブレイク ブレイド 第三章 凶刃ノ痕 [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Third Break Blade movie. It had a bit of everything initiated with no development yet.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Loups=Garous ルー=ガルー 忌避すべき狼 [Production I.G, Trans Arts] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense  In a future governed through the lens of a camera, where people eat synthetic food and pursue an online existence in lieu of physical contact, a group of children begin meeting up in the real world. The aloof Ayumi Kono, the genius hacker Mio Tsuzuki, and the socially awkward Hazuki Makino set out to find the fourth member of their group, Yuko Yabe, who has gone missing. With the help of Myao Rei, an unregistered citizen proficient in martial arts, they are able to find Yuko. However, when their situation takes a sudden turn for the worse, the group stumbles headlong into a dark mystery that challenges everything they know about their world. Dark Detective Suspense Mystery with child detectives! Concept is not bad, realization not quite to my liking.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Meng Hui Jinsha Cheng The Dreams of Jinsha 梦回金沙城 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Time Travel Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  Xiao Long is a modern day middle-school student, who, after being transported 3,000 years back in time to the ancient kingdom of Jinsha, discovers his true destiny. Jinsha is a beautiful and magical place but plagued by a mysterious evil energy which its inhabitants fear they can't hold off, much less defeat. After the school boy witnesses the beginnings of the destruction by the forces of darkness on this ancient land, he is overcome with sadness and pledges to help. Upon discovering a special connection with nature, Xiao Long gains the trust of the beautiful young Princess Hau'er and her loyal subjects and together they fight the wicked forces surrounding them to restore peace across the kingdom. Along the way, Xiao Long reforms himself into a courageous boy who forgoes his self-centered behavior to coexist harmoniously with others. Not translated. First Chinese movie of decent visual quality. Despite some folklore it's watchable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Xiyu Chuanqi 西域传奇 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Adventure - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  20. kivandopulus

    Anime of the Year 2010-IV Fall - Bakuman.

    By kivandopulus,


    Anime of the Year
    Anime in its prime. Bakuman. is inspirational and perfect. Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt are firm enjoyable masterpieces.  And Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai is also memorable enough to have a honorary title.   1. Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai OreImo 俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない  [AIC Build] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Otaku Culture Comedy  Kirino Kousaka embodies the ideal student with equally entrancing looks. Her grades are near perfect, and to cover her personal expenses, she works as a professional model alongside her best friend Ayase Aragaki, who abhors liars and all things otaku. But what Ayase doesn't know is that Kirino harbors a deep, entrenched secret that will soon be brought to light. At home one day, Kyousuke, Kirino's perfectly average brother, stumbles upon an erotic game that belongs to none other than his seemingly flawless little sister. With her reputation at stake, Kirino places a gag order on her sibling while simultaneously introducing him to the world of eroge and anime. Through Kirino, Kyousuke encounters the gothic lolita Ruri Gokou and the bespectacled otaku Saori Makishima, thus jump-starting an entirely new lifestyle. But as he becomes more and more involved in his little sister's secret life, it becomes that much harder to keep under wraps. I'm loving OreImo and still not fed up with tsundere, but can't call it intellectual, so there's the cap to the score.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai The World God Only Knows 神のみぞ知るセカイ [Manglobe] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Harem, Otaku Culture Comedy, Romance, Supernatural Keima Katsuragi, known online as the legendary "God of Conquest," can conquer any girl's heart—in dating sim games, at least. In reality, he opts for the two-dimensional world of gaming over real life because he is an unhealthily obsessed otaku of galge games (a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls). When he arrogantly accepts an anonymous offer to prove his supremacy at dating sim games, Keima is misled into aiding a naive and impish demon from hell named Elucia "Elsie" de Lute Ima with her mission: retrieving runaway evil spirits who have escaped from hell and scattered themselves throughout the human world. Keima discovers that the only way to capture these spirits is to conquer what he hates the most: the unpredictable hearts of three-dimensional girls! Shackled to Elsie via a deadly collar, Keima now has his title of "God of Conquest" put to the ultimate test as he is forced to navigate through the hearts of a multitude of real-life girls. Protagonist makes it an enjoyable watch, and some situations are great as well. Can't say I'm head over heels with it, but I definitely want to memorize this title that I keep forgetting, so it deservers a honorary masterpiece at least for the concept.   Overall Rating: 7/10   3. Bakuman. バクマン。  [J.C.Staff] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Shounen Otaku Culture Comedy, Drama, Romance As a child, Moritaka Mashiro dreamt of becoming a mangaka, just like his childhood hero and uncle, Tarou Kawaguchi, creator of a popular gag manga. But when tragedy strikes, he gives up on his dream and spends his middle school days studying, aiming to become a salaryman instead. One day, his classmate Akito Takagi, the school's top student and aspiring writer, notices the detailed drawings in Moritaka's notebook. Seeing the vast potential of his artistic talent, Akito approaches Moritaka, proposing that they become mangaka together. After much convincing, Moritaka realizes that if he is able to create a popular manga series, he may be able to get the girl he has a crush on, Miho Azuki, to take part in the anime adaptation as a voice actor. Thus the pair begins creating manga under the pen name Muto Ashirogi, hoping to become the greatest mangaka in Japan, the likes of which no one has ever seen. OreImo came at a wrong time as few titles can rival Bakuman. It's innovational, enjoyable, inspiring and complex.   Overall Rating: 10/10   4. Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone. Yosuga no Sora ヨスガノソラ In solitude, where we are least alone. [feel.] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem Drama, Romance, Erotica Due to a sudden accident, twins Haruka and Sora Kasugano have lost both of their parents. Starting their lives anew, they return to their childhood home—living once again in the rural, quaint town like they did four years ago. However, revisiting such a nostalgic place also means recalling all the memories the two of them made together, be it those that gave them blissful joy or those that made them suffer painful sorrow. Meeting both old acquaintances and new companions alike, the story of Haruka and Sora only gets more convoluted as their lives are slowly influenced by different acts of love, friendship, envy—and perhaps even lust. Adaptation of another simple visual novel. It's something like School Days, but on a higher quality level.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Toaru Majutsu no Index II A Certain Magical Index II とある魔術の禁書目録Ⅱ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Super Power Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi As tensions between the world of magic and Academy City continues to rise, Touma Kamijou and his hand of negation must face off against both esper and magician in order to protect the lives of those around him. Of course, he is not alone in his fight; whether by his side or out of sight, allies and enemies both old and new will enter the fray to help him. Toaru Majutsu no Index II continues the story of action and comedy, as the scale of Touma and his allies' battle grows ever larger. A conflict is slowly brewing on the horizon, and magic and science will cross paths once again in the war to come. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt パンティ＆ストッキングwithガーターベルト [Gainax] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Gag Humor, Parody Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi The "Anarchy Sisters," Panty and Stocking, have been kicked out of Heaven for, to put it mildly, misbehaving. Led by a priest named Garterbelt, these angels must buy their way back by exterminating ghosts in Daten City. But this task requires unconventional weapons for these unorthodox angels—they transform their lingerie into weapons to dispatch the spirits. Unfortunately, neither of them take their duties seriously, as they rather spend their time in pursuit of other "hobbies": Panty prefers to sleep with anything that walks, and Stocking favors stuffing her face with sweets than hunting ghosts. Follow these two unruly angels as they battle ghosts, an overflow of bodily fluids, and their own tendency to get side-tracked in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. It's relatively short, amusing, with nice adult humor and even developing story. Always liked this series.   Overall Rating: 8/10   7. Motto To LOVE-Ru もっと To LOVEる -とらぶる- [Xebec] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Harem, School Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Rito Yuuki never gets a break—he's always finding himself in lewd accidents with girls around him. Although his heart still yearns for Haruna, his childhood love, Rito can't help but question his feelings for Lala, the alien princess who appeared in front of him and declared she would marry him. But now, it's not just Lala he has to deal with: her younger twin sisters, Momo and Nana, have also traveled to Earth, wanting to meet their older sister's fiancé, and just as luck would have it, they end up staying at Rito's home. Meanwhile, amidst the bustle of his new family members, Yami, the human weapon girl, begins her pursuit for Rito. It's not an easy life for Rito as he deals with uncertain love, punishment for being a pervert, and a girl dead set on murdering him. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Sora no Otoshimono Forte そらのおとしものf（フォルテ） [AIC ASTA] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Harem Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi Sakurai Tomoki has settled into his life with the two angeloids, Ikaros and Nymph, and is enjoying himself immensely. However, he keeps having weird dreams and asks all of his friends to help him investigate the cause. Nymph conjures up a device that enables people, but not angeloids, to enter other people's dreams. The device malfunctions at first but eventually they get to what was supposed to be Tomoki's dream but discover that something is very wrong with it. Later, a meteor comes crashing down from the skies at the site of the large cherry blossom tree where Tomoki first discovered Ikaros. An extremely well endowed blonde angeloid with a huge sword emerges from the meteor and sets off in search of Tomoki! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. MM! えむえむっ! [Xebec] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Ecchi Taro Sado is a high school student who lives his day to day life with a big secret—he's a masochist! Encouraged by his cross-dressing best friend Tatsukichi Hayama, Taro asks the Second Voluntary Club for help with his problem and ends up joining the club after they vow to "fix" him. However, it turns out that all of the members of the club have some serious issues. The club leader Mio Isurugi is a self-designated god who is afraid of cats, Arashiko Yuuno has a severe fear of men, and the club advisor Michiru Onigawara is a sadist who enjoys making people cosplay. Together with other wacky characters such as Yumi Mamiya, a talented masseuse and Yuuno's best friend, and Noa Hiiragi, the president of the invention club, they all learn about the importance of acceptance and kindness. School club with weirdos, but this time with a super unpleasant M protagonist. And characters describe it all well as disgusting. Single episode is all I can tolerate here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Kuragehime Princess Jellyfish 海月姫 [Brain's Base] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Josei Crossdressing, Visual Arts Comedy Ever since her late mother took her to an aquarium when she was young, Tsukimi Kurashita has been obsessed with jellyfish, comparing their flowing tentacles to a princess's white dress. Now living with five other unemployed otaku women, 19-year-old Tsukimi spends her days as a social outcast dreaming of becoming an illustrator. However, her life changes forever when one day, a beautiful woman unexpectedly helps her save a jellyfish in a local pet store. From then on, the stranger—confident, fashionable, and the complete opposite of Tsukimi and her roommates—begins to regularly visit the girls' building. This trendy hipster, though appearing shallow at first, harbors some secrets of her own, starting with the fact that "she" isn't really a girl at all, but a wealthy male college student named Kuranosuke Koibuchi! Never watched it, probably because of trap. No idea where this all is going, probably protagonist is getting more and more feminine with advise of trap, and that's of zero interest to me.   Overall Rating: 5/10   11. Shinryaku! Ika Musume The Squid Girl 侵略!イカ娘 [Diomedéa] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Anthropomorphic Comedy Humans have been polluting the ocean for a long time, carelessly pouring their garbage and desecrating the waters that many creatures call home. The denizens of the sea have suffered at their poisoning hands. Finally, one certain squid has had enough and vows to punish the humans' selfish actions. Possessing all the fearsome abilities of a squid such as powerful hair-tentacles, the ability to spit ink, and even use bioluminescence at will, Ika Musume takes it upon herself to rise from the depths of the ocean and exact revenge upon humanity! She surfaces at a certain Lemon Beach House, a restaurant managed by the sisters Eiko and Chizuru Aizawa. Thinking them to be an easy first step toward world domination, she immediately declares war against them, only to find out that she is, quite literally, a fish out of water! To make things worse, she destroys a part of a wall of the beach house in an attempt to flaunt her squiddy superiority and is consequently forced into becoming a waitress to pay the repair costs. Beached for the time being after tasting a thorough defeat at the hands of the Aizawa sisters, Ika Musume is forced to put her plans for world domination on hold. Despite these setbacks, Ika Musume soon finds herself right at home in her unexpected position as Lemon Beach House's newest employee. Wacky and hilarious, Shinryaku! Ika Musume follows her brand new life on the surface as she makes precious memories and meet lots of new people. With her newfound acquaintances, Ika Musume is looking to take the world by storm, one squid ink spaghetti at a time! A nice comedy centered around invader squid girl with ten controllable tentacles. But the thing is it's not really memorable and not really special though good.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Girls Samurai Girls 百花繚乱 サムライガールズ [Arms] (Finished 5/12) Tags: Harem, Samurai, School Action, Comedy, Ecchi With its gorgeous landscape and prosperous people, Great Japan is the envy of all other nations. But a serious threat hovers over the country. Mysterious guardians known as Master Samurai are Great Japan's only defense. At the behest of the student council, young samurai Muneakira Yagyuu arrives at Buou Academic School. Run by the Tokugawa Shogunate, here children of warriors are given aristocratic education required to run the country. The school is led by the student council president Yoshihiko Tokugawa and his sister Sen, who also happens to be Muneakira's childhood friend. Upon arriving at the academy, Muneakira finds himself in the midst of a terrible fight. During the chaos, the sky fills with a peculiar white light and a mysterious girl named Juubei Yagyuu appears and suddenly kisses Muneakira. With his kiss, she awakens an unknown power that protects them. Just who is this girl, and where did she come from? Muneakira finds himself entangled in the fate of the country and a threat that will shake Great Japan to its core. He must learn the secret behind the Master Samurai and the kiss that awakened Juubei's power in order to protect his country. Nonsense shallow samurai imitating plot does not leave any room for empathy. It ends up being a spree of crafted jokes and nudity opportunities.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge 荒川アンダー ザブリッジ×ブリッジ [Shaft] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Romance  On the beautiful banks of the Arakawa River, it is lively as ever. Now known as "Recruit," Kou Ichinomiya has adjusted to the troubles his unconventional neighbors brew daily. However, the atypical scene is about to get even rowdier when their community adds a couple of oddball enthusiasts: a tall, muscular woman calling herself Amazoness, followed by her loyal Tengu henchmen; and Captain, self-proclaimed Commander of Earth's Defense Force against Venusians. In spite of all the commotion, Recruit gradually learns more about his lover Nino and the story that shaped her. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Shinrei Tantei Yakumo Psychic Detective Yakumo 心霊探偵 八雲 [Bee Train] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Adult Cast, Detective Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Haruka Ozawa's sophomore year is getting seriously scary. One of her friends is possessed, another has committed suicide and Haruka could be the next one to flunk the still-breathing test. Her only way out of this potentially lethal dead end? Yakumo Saito, an enigmatic student born with a mysterious red eye that allows him to see and communicate with the dead. But the deceased don't always desist and some killers are more than ready to kill again to keep dead men from telling any more tales. That doesn't stop Haruka's knack for digging up buried secrets, and there's even more evidence of bodies being exhumed by both Yakumo's police contact and an investigative journalist with a newly made corpse in her closet! Can this pair of anything but normal paranormal detectives solve the ultimate dead case files or will they end up in cold storage themselves? Among things that are worse than detectives, psychic detectives are among the worst. Another slow-paced mess that mostly likely would only disappoint by the end of it.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Otome Youkai Zakuro Zakuro おとめ妖怪 ざくろ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 6/13) Tags: Seinen Historical, Military, Mythology Romance, Supernatural Second Lieutenant Kei Agemaki, the son of a famous general, has hidden his extreme fear of paranormal beings all his life. However, when he and two others are reassigned to live and work with youkai in the Ministry of Spirit Affairs, he is brought face-to-face with his worst nightmare. Now with the help of the fox spirit Kushimatsu, he and his fellow officers must learn to work alongside youkai maidens—Zakuro, Susukihotaru, Hoozuki, and Bonbori—to solve paranormal cases. Set in the midst of an alternate version of Japanese Westernization, Otome Youkai Zakuro explores the clashes and unions that can occur when east meets west, local meets foreign, and women meet men. The unusual alliance of the youkai maidens and human officers must learn to work together in a world that is changing around them. Sakura Wars aesthetics, boys from prewar military, catgirls, youkai, katanas... fells like a collection of random things appealing to shoujo gathered together. Hardly interesting or memorable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku FORTUNE ARTERIAL 赤い約束 [feel., Zexcs] (Finished 1/12) Tags: School, Vampire Comedy, Romance, Supernatural  Fortune Arterial's story revolves around the male protagonist Kohei Hasekura, who transfers into a prestigious public school in the style of an English six-year school encompassing junior-high and high school students. The school is on an island named Tamatsu Island off-shore from mainland Japan, and the only way to get there is by boat. Soon after transferring, he discovers that one of the student in the class next door to his, Sendo Erika, is in fact a type of vampire. Most of visual novels from 2008 were rather simple. Fortune arterial has vampire flavor, but otherwise again amnesia, again meeting two childhood female friends after many years, familiar events. Quality is a bit higher than average, but otherwise quite the average school romance.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto Star Driver STAR DRIVER 輝きのタクト [Bones] (Finished 3/25) Tags: Mecha, School Action, Romance, Sci-Fi Deep beneath the surface of Southern Cross Isle, a mysterious organization known as the Glittering Crux Brigade frequently gathers in their underground fortress. The group is particularly interested in "Cybodies," stone giants which can transform into massive fighting humanoids but only in a realm known as "Zero Time." By finding and shattering the seals of the island's four seal maidens, Glittering Crux hopes to break free of Zero Time and use the Cybodies anywhere they please. One night, a young man named Takuto Tsunashi washes up on the island's shore and is rescued by Sugata Shindou and his fiancée Wako Agemaki, one of the island's seal maidens. After he awakens, Takuto quickly befriends the two and proceeds to enroll at the local academy, where many of his fellow students are secretly members of Glittering Crux. However, Takuto holds a secret: when in Zero Time, he can utilize a Cybody of his own—the Tauburn. In the forthcoming battle, Takuto and the Tauburn will be the key to preventing Glittering Crux from shattering Wako's seal and realizing its nefarious ambitions. Galactic pretty boy transforms into mecha opposes the council of five ultra-villains!  And protagonist actually cries out that he's galactic pretty boy when transforming. That's cringy. It's all show off and of   little essence.  Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Hakuouki: Hekketsuroku Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom - Record of the Jade Blood  [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Josei Historical, Samurai Action, Drama, Supernatural After the conclusion of Hakuouki, Chizuru Yukimura and the Shinsengumi are forced to flee Kyoto and set sail for Edo. In their commander Isami Kondou's absence, vice-commander Toshizou Hijikata steps in as acting commander. However, Hijikata is not only struggling with the extra leadership duties—which worries everyone around him—but also a newfound uncontrollable bloodlust. To make matters worse, the urge does not affect him alone, and it is even beginning to drive some of his subordinates mad. Finally, Kondou returns with orders from the emperor to defend the castle, and a new name for their squad: the Kouyou Chinbutai. But in war, the balance of power can shift suddenly and allegiances can waver. In Hakuouki Hekketsuroku, Chizuru follows the Shinsengumi into the heart of war and continues the search for her missing father, all while the bond between her and Hijikata grows ever stronger. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Tegamibachi Reverse Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse テガミバチ REVERSE [Pierrot Plus] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Shounen Adventure, Fantasy After Niche carries the wounded and stunned Lag back to the Bee Hive, the Letter Bee finally begins to piece the puzzle together. Now he knows what's happened to Gauche, why the Marauders are so focused on stealing mail and the actual intent of the group controlling both, Reverse. However, when he's forbidden to reveal the truth, Lag is soon forced out of the artificial sunlight and back into the world of perpetual night. And soon Reverse's plot to take down the Letter Bees and overthrow the Amberground government begins to accelerate. If things weren't already bad enough, the giant insect creatures called gaichuu are apparently evolving into something new; there may be traitors working within the Hive; and Niche's sister, who's definitely not human friendly, shows up to turn family drama into a full-scale siege! It all spells serious trouble for the Letter Bees, but if anyone can weather the storms and gloom of night, Lag and his team are the ones who'll deliver. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru And Yet the Town Moves それでも町は廻っている [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Slice of Life Seaside Cafe is hardly what comes to mind when one thinks of a maid cafe. Hastily rebranded to jump in on the maid trend, Seaside Cafe carries no tea, offers very little in the way of service, and only gets customers from the local shopping district. Despite the cafe's humble offerings, this is where Hotori Arashiyama chooses to secretly work after school. Balancing high school, work, family, and a love life can be difficult, and Hotori manages to stumble through without the slightest bit of grace. With the help of her friends and family, she tries to navigate her way through the wild world of adolescence where barely anything normal occurs. With manga as source it's a nice varied SOL comedy, but it's episodic, and I don't feel any affiliation with the cast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Detective Opera Milky Holmes 探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ [J.C.Staff] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Comedy, Mystery "Toys" are powers bestowed upon those chosen to wield them, each having qualities that are unique to their users. Some of these individuals are born pure, using their powers to become detectives. Others bloom laced with poison and choose to become phantom thieves. These two opposing factions caused the formation of various detective academies around the globe—training detectives to fight and catch the phantom thieves. Sherlock Shellingford, Nero Yuzurizaki, Hercule Burton, and Cordelia Glauca form "Milky Holmes", a group recognized as the cream of the crop in the Yokohama-based Holmes Detective Academy. However, in a skirmish against the phantom thief Arsene, their Toys suddenly disappear, deeming them unfit to continue as detectives. Stripped of their prestigious life and thrown into a rundown attic, they face expulsion if they fail to regain their powers within the next three months. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes tells the story of a once-legendary group in their journey to recover their Toys, as well as attempting to continue their line of work without the powers that once defined their career. I watched couple first seasons as I really wanted to like it. Some moments are good, but overall I don't appreciate this humor and thus watching it feels more like a chore even though meme potential is high here.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Yume-iro Pâtissière SP Professional 夢色パティシエールSP（スペシャル）プロフェッショナル [Studio Hibari] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Gourmet, Slice of Life Upon her return to Japan after a two year study break in Paris, Ichigo Amano is met with news of Team Ichigo's separation, as each of the Sweets Princes takes a different path toward their dream. Now in her first year of high school, Henri Lucas has a project in store for her, enlisting the help of Ichigo, Makoto Kashino, and new members Lemon Yamagishi and Johnny McBeal to give rise to a new Team Ichigo. As the four work together on this project, Ichigo and Makoto continue to grow closer, though Johnny and the unrelenting Miya Koshiro will not idly sit by; with Johnny's eye on Ichigo and Miya still after Makoto, it definitely seems like love won't come easily. With Ichigo's time at St. Marie Academy, she is now ever closer to her dream of starting her very own pâtisserie. However, she will soon realize that it takes more than just making delicious sweets to open up a shop. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Iron Man アイアンマン [Madhouse] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Mecha Action, Drama Tony Stark, CEO of a large weapons manufacturer, physicist, engineer, and brilliant inventor, is wounded by shrapnel from one of his own weapons. While held captive by terrorists, he develops the Iron Man Suit and escapes. From that day on, he vows not to waste his second chance at life and to change the world for the better. For that purpose, he comes to Japan. In Lab 23 in Japan, great strides have been taken to develop, and build, a unique power station which does not run on fossil fuels, the Arc Station. Stark intends to join this project, and, for that, he is ready to announce his retirement as Iron Man. At the same time, he will also announce the Mass-produced Iron Men, to which he will pass on his duties. However, during the ceremonies, Stark is suddenly attacked by combat mecha belonging to an organization known as Zodiac. Can't stand both Marvel and DC, just brainless fast food entertainment action.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Super Robot Taisen OG: The Inspector Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector スーパーロボット大戦OG -ジ・インスペクター- [Asahi Production] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi With many of its central personnel lost in the war, the Earth Federation Government is forced to rebuild, and Brian Midcrid, president of the Unified Colonies, takes the position of its president. During an emergency session of the Federation Diet, he publicly acknowledges the existence of extraterrestrials, and reveals the events of the L5 campaign to the masses in what will later come to be called the "Tokyo Declaration." He goes on to state that these aliens pose a serious threat to humanity. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Battle Spirits: Brave バトルスピリッツ ブレイヴ [Sunrise] (Finished 1/50) Tags: Military, Mythology, Strategy Game Adventure, Sci-Fi Two years ago, the world was saved by Dan Bashin and the other light bearers of the cores. Having once risked his life in Grand Rolo's strife, Dan no longer finds passion in the mundanity of everyday card battles. When Dan desires to clash against stronger opponents, he is approached by Mai Shinomiya. She offers to bring him to the future, the stage of a new conflict where Dan's strength is needed. The two arrive in the year 2650, where civilization has been ravaged by the struggle for power between mankind and an otherworldly race known as "Mazoku." As humanity begins to crumble under the dominance of the Mazoku, the hardened light bearers are destined to cross paths once more. Armed with new cards from the future, Dan and the other warriors must yet again bear the fate of humanity on their shoulders. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   26. Shin-Men  [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Super Power  Action, Comedy The spinoff is set in a parallel world known as Shin Jigen (Shin Dimension). The titular Shin-men team is composed of five heroes with supernatural powers symbolized by fire (Gou), water (Sui), wind (Hyuu), greenery (Nyoki), and iron (Kan). Together, they fight against their enemy, the evil pigs of Ton-Men. Not translated. As expected, childish superhero action with characters of Shin-chan. Only pilot episode is 16 minutes, all the others are just 8 minutes long, and with that length I would not even pick it up.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Koe de Oshigoto! The Animation こえでおしごと! The ANIMATION [Studio Gokumi] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen Otaku Culture, Showbiz Comedy, Ecchi Being asked to work as a voice actress at a game company might not be so bad, unless you are Kanna Aoyagi. On her 16th birthday, her older sister Yayoi guilts Kanna into doing voice work for her at Blue March, a game company that specializes in eroge: erotic games with lots of sexual content. Sweet and innocent, Kanna has no idea how she can possibly succeed at such an occupation when she has no sexual experience. But as she plays eroge for research, uses her vivid imagination, and receives unorthodox help from her coworkers, Kanna slowly becomes more comfortable with her new, embarrassing profession. Nice seiyuu ecchi, but it's just different situations over one hour length, so can't be treated seriously.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Megane na Kanojo 眼鏡なカノジョ [AIC Takarazuka] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Shounen School Comedy, Romance For most people, wearing glasses is a necessity for clear sight, but for four young girls, their spectacles mean so much more. From a teenage girl wearing her glasses with pride and a top idol who uses hers to disguise herself as a regular person, to a couple whose bent frames bring them closer together, a good pair of glasses can not only open your eyes, but also open your heart. There are four megane heroines and four 13-minute episodes, so just not enough substance.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Ghost Messenger 고스트 메신저 [Studio Animal] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Supernatural Ghost Messengers are super-power agents from the underground world called the World of Death. The World of Death is a digitalized world with cutting-edge technologies that control and manage the life and death of all living things based on its elaborate systems. Our Ghost Messenger hero, Kang-lim, has been dispatched to the human world to capture the remaining ghosts who are refusing to go to the World of Death although it is their time. An accident occurs during his mission and Kang-lim gets captured in his own mobile phone. Little Kang-lim, a human boy who has extraordinary spiritual powers, finds the mobile phone and takes GhostMessenger Kang-lim out from the mobile phone. And the adventure begins. Just this year we've seen the first visually acceptable Chinese animation, and this Korean title is also the first that does not bother the eye with occasional ugliness. But contents is just Korean juvenile ghostbusters using even similar devices. World of death theme tries to be serious, but ghosts themselves are rather not serious, so consistency suffers a lot.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Mardock Scramble: The First Compression マルドゥック・スクランブル 圧縮 [GoHands] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Action, Sci-Fi Rune Balot is a down-and-out teen prostitute in Mardock City. One day, she's picked up by an ambitious casino manager named Shell who gives her everything she could want. Renewed by a false innocence, a false past, and now the false life Shell has given her, Balot feels grateful. However, she can't help but be curious about why he's done so much for her, so she does some research about his past on a computer. This turns out to be a mistake which will change her life greatly. When Shell finds out what she's done, he attempts to burn her to death by blowing up her car. Due to the high crime rate in Mardock, a new law called "Scramble 09" has given police carte blanche to take extreme and otherwise illegal measures to revive crime witnesses. With this in mind, they allow a professor to bring Balot back from the brink of death by reassembling her entire body with reinforced synthetic fiber. When she finally wakes up, her confused mental state eventually turns toward revenge as Shell is revealed as her killer. Revenge stories tend to be rather simple plot-wise, but that allows to tune other elements better. Another variation of Kite that takes some things to a higher level.   Overall Rating: 6/10   31. Break Blade Movie 4: Sanka no Chi Broken Blade 4 ブレイク ブレイド 第四章 惨禍ノ地 [Production I.G, Xebec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha, Military Action, Fantasy Fourth Break Blade Movie. Finally counter-offensive and clashes with abrupt ending on some kind of cliffhanger.   Overall Rating: 6/10   32. Cheburashka チェブラーシカ [Comma Studio] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  The stop-motion animated film based on Russia's Cheburashka character. Not translated (except for Russian voicing). Childish stuff.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  21. kivandopulus
    Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica made a great impression on me, and Fractale is one little serious fantasy that did not age well, but is still pleasurable.   1. Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Puella Magi Madoka Magica 魔法少女まどか★マギカ  [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, Psychological Award Winning, Drama, Suspense Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are regular middle school girls with regular lives, but all that changes when they encounter Kyuubey, a cat-like magical familiar, and Homura Akemi, the new transfer student. Kyuubey offers them a proposition: he will grant any one of their wishes and in exchange, they will each become a magical girl, gaining enough power to fulfill their dreams. However, Homura Akemi, a magical girl herself, urges them not to accept the offer, stating that everything is not what it seems. A story of hope, despair, and friendship, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica deals with the difficulties of being a magical girl and the price one has to pay to make a dream come true. Mahou Shoujo that broke out of Shoujo bubble. I believe it's experience everyone should go through.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. IS: Infinite Stratos Infinite Stratos IS 〈インフィニット・ストラトス〉 [8bit] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem, Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Ecchi An exoskeleton weapon engineered by Japan, Infinite Stratos (IS) can be piloted only by women. Its power and combat prowess are so immense that an international treaty has been signed banning its use as a military asset. When it is discovered that 15-year-old Ichika Orimura is the only male capable of steering an IS, he is forcibly enrolled in the Infinite Stratos Academy: an all-female boarding school, the students of which graduate to become IS pilots. At this training school, Ichika is reunited with two of his childhood friends, Houki Shinonono and Lingyin Huang, and befriends Cecilia Alcott, an IS representative from the United Kingdom. Guided by the legendary pilot Chifuyu Orimura—their strict homeroom teacher and Ichika's older sister—Ichika and the girls will need to use everything at their disposal to defend themselves and their academy against the dangers that will arise during the course of their thrilling school life. Co-ed harem ecchi does not look good on its own, but adding mecha only harms in most cases. It's as banal as it can be, mecha duels are supposed to attract those who like action.   Overall Rating: 5/10   3. Kore wa Zombie desu ka? Is This a Zombie? これはゾンビですか? [Studio Deen] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Harem Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi Ayumu Aikawa is a 16-year-old high school student who is tragically murdered while investigating a suspicious house. However, he soon awakens next to a strange armored girl called Eucliwood Hellscythe. She reveals herself to be a necromancer who has revived Ayumu, consequently turning him into a zombie! Now immortal, Ayumu sets out to hunt down his killer. One day, while searching in a cemetery, he encounters a boisterous young girl named Haruna, who is fighting a bear with a chainsaw while dressed as a magical girl. After she kills the beast, Haruna attempts to erase Ayumu's memories of her, but he instead absorbs her magic for himself. Stripped of her powers, Haruna now orders Ayumu to take up her role of hunting strange creatures known as "Megalo," monsters that roam the human world and terrorize the population. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? follows the daily antics of the human-turned-zombie Ayumu as he begins his new, ludicrous life where the supernatural becomes the norm. As soon as harem gathers, it becomes evident that there is no big story behind it all, random nonsense humor is all you can expect.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Beelzebub べるぜバブ [Pierrot Plus] (Finished 1/60) Tags: Shounen Childcare, Delinquents, Mythology, School Action, Comedy, Supernatural Ishiyama High is a school populated entirely by delinquents, where nonstop violence and lawlessness are the norm. However, there is one universally acknowledged rule—don't cross first year student Tatsumi Oga, Ishiyama's most vicious fighter. One day, Oga is by a riverbed when he encounters a man floating down the river. After being retrieved by Oga, the man splits down the middle to reveal a baby, which crawls onto Oga's back and immediately forms an attachment to him. Though he doesn't know it yet, this baby is named Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV, or "Baby Beel" for short—the son of the Demon Lord! As if finding the future Lord of the Underworld isn't enough, Oga is also confronted by Hildegard, Beel's demon maid. Together they attempt to raise Baby Beel—although surrounded by juvenile delinquents and demonic powers, the two of them may be in for more of a challenge than they can imagine. Absolutely could not stand Hitman Reborn, and this one is very similar, nonsense gags, mostly.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Gosick GOSICK -ゴシック-  [Bones] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Historical Drama, Mystery, Romance Kazuya Kujou is a foreign student at Saint Marguerite Academy, a luxurious boarding school in the Southern European country of Sauville. Originally from Japan, his jet-black hair and dark brown eyes cause his peers to shun him and give him the nickname "Black Reaper," based on a popular urban legend about the traveler who brings death in the spring. On a day like any other, Kujou visits the school's extravagant library in search of ghost stories. However, his focus soon changes as he becomes curious about a golden strand of hair on the stairs. The steps lead him to a large garden and a beautiful doll-like girl known as Victorique de Blois, whose complex and imaginative foresight allows her to predict their futures, now intertwined. With more mysteries quickly developing—including the appearance of a ghost ship and an alchemist with the power of transmutation—Victorique and Kujou, bound by fate and their unique skills, have no choice but to rely on each other. We've seen lots of different kid detectives. But there was no gothic loli detective, so let's make one. For me it's being a torture.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You Season 2 君に届け 2ND SEASON [Production I.G] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shoujo School Drama, Romance After a momentous New Year's vacation and with Valentine's Day approaching, Sawako Kuronuma is beginning to get along with her classmates. However, now that Sawako has realized her romantic feelings for the popular Shouta Kazehaya, she grows hesitant toward giving him obligatory chocolates and decides to not give him any. In turn, Kazehaya, who likes Sawako, feels a distance between them. As February ends and April arrives, the second year of high school begins for Sawako. Luckily, she ends up in the same class as her friends Ayane Yano and Chizuru Yoshida, along with Kazehaya and his friend Ryuu Sanada, in addition to the newcomer named Kento Miura. When Kento develops an interest in Sawako, Sawako and Kazehaya's feelings for each other are put to the test. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Freezing フリージング [A.C.G.T.] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Seinen Action, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Ecchi  Decades into the future, humanity is under siege by an alien race known as the Novas. These inhuman beings leave devastation in their wake whenever they appear, with the efforts to stave them off becoming known as Nova Clashes. Young women known as "Pandoras" and young men known as "Limiters" are implanted with stigmata to give them superhuman powers and are trained in military academies, where they must learn to work together if humanity is to have a chance of surviving. Freezing tells the story of Kazuya Aoi as he sets out for his first day at the West Genetics military academy, right when a battle royale is being undertaken by the Pandoras. It is here that he mistakes Satellizer el Bridget—a powerful Pandora known as the "Untouchable Queen"—as his deceased sister and embraces her. Though he costs her the match, she finds that his touch doesn't drive her away and decides to take him as her Limiter. The only question is whether or not their partnership can survive the machinations of their upperclassmen and the impending battle with the Novas… I remember dropping it midway, because I lost all hope for story and because nudity started to feel not just abundant, but excessive. Having finished it now, can't say it got any better.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Dragon Crisis! ドラゴンクライシス!  [Studio Deen] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Action, Romance, Supernatural  A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji's peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin Eriko. Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker. In the box, they find a red dragon girl Rose. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler. Just action with a powerful mysterious unsociable girl and a huge load of banalities and tropes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Yumekui Merry Dream Eater Merry 夢喰いメリー [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Action, Supernatural  High school student Yumeji Fujiwara has the ability to see people's dreams. Despite the visions never appearing clear or concrete, he is able to predict them by sensing the person's "aura." Normally, this skill is a fun trick to play on his classmates, but Yumeji only ever sees himself having the same nightmare every night. To his surprise, the nightmare continues in the middle of the day even before Yumeji has fallen asleep. The unexpected event was triggered by a dream demon—an inhabitant of the world of dreams who wants to use Yumeji's body as a vessel to fully enter the real world. However, Yumeji is saved by the timely arrival of Merry Nightmare, another dream demon who can somehow physically manifest without a host and is instead trying to return to her own realm. As more dream demons continue to push into reality, it is up to Yumeji and Merry to fight back against the invasion before everyone's nightmares materialize. I have very little interest in any activities during dreams, and other elements here weren't able to craft anything unique to draw attention. Just another harem with action and some crappy mystery on top. Characters are given more attention than usual, but at this point I could not care less.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Hourou Musuko Wandering Son 放浪息子 [AIC Classic] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Seinen Crossdressing, School Drama, Romance Effeminate fifth grader Shuuichi Nitori is considered by most to be one of the prettiest girls in school, but much to her dismay, she is actually biologically male. Fortunately, Shuuichi has a childhood friend who has similar feelings of discomfort related to gender identity: the lanky tomboy Yoshino Takatsuki, who, though biologically female, does not identify as a girl. These two friends share a similar secret and find solace in one another; however, their lives become even more complicated when they must tread the unfamiliar waters of a new school, attempt to make new friends, and struggle to maintain old ones. Faced with nearly insurmountable odds, they must learn to deal with the harsh realities of growing up, being transgender, relationships, and acceptance. Lauded as a decidedly serious take on gender identity and LGBT struggles, Takako Shimura's Hourou Musuko is about Shuuichi and Yoshino's attempts to discover their true selves as they enter puberty, make friends, fall in love, and face some very real and difficult choices. I heard some good stuff about this anime, but concept is just alien to me, so guess need to have some interest in that beforehand or still be able absorb new ideas of which I'm neither.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Level E レベルE  [Pierrot, David Production] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor Comedy, Sci-Fi Tokyo-born schoolboy Yukitaka Tsutsui is moving to Yamagata Prefecture for high school on a baseball scholarship. Since he went to the top middle school in Japan for baseball, the townsfolk are very excited about his arrival. However, when he arrives in his apartment, he encounters a strange man nonchalantly reading and wearing his clothes! The stranger claims to be an alien who crash-landed on Earth and has nowhere to go. Revealing himself to be Baka Ki El Dogra, the crown prince of the planet Dogra, he is just one of the hundreds of aliens that have already made Earth their home.e Despite his regal origins, the prince is an infamous intergalactic fool who thinks nothing of inconveniencing others for his own amusement. Whether he is running ridiculous tests on his subordinates, giving strange powers to random children, or just generally being a nuisance, nobody is safe from the idiot prince's antics! What a mess of several barely connected stories. It fails to deliver in every field, and ending is no exception.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Oniichan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!! Because I Don't Like My Big Brother at All!! お兄ちゃんのことなんかぜんぜん好きじゃないんだからねっ!! [Zexcs] (Finished 6/12) Tags: Harem Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Second-year middle schooler Nao Takanashi loves her older brother Shuusuke to the point where she has developed a brother complex. Wanting her brother to see her as a woman, Nao makes advances toward him on a daily basis, which often results in Shuusuke succumbing to and encouraging more of her teasing. One day, while throwing away porn magazines from her brother's room, Nao finds an album containing his childhood photos—none of which include her. Having discovered the truth behind her family relationships, Nao becomes ever more affectionate toward Shuusuke. However, it does not take long for her dreams of monopolizing her brother to be put in jeopardy. It has not gone far from Sis x Sis, but BL episode 6 puts an end to this watch.   Overall Rating: 5/10   13. Fractale フラクタル [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  The story takes place on an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Clain finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Clain sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System. A very nice dystopian series that caught my interest a decade ago. Now some its elements don't feel as good, but it still deserves a minor masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 7/10   14. Cardfight!! Vanguard カードファイト!! ヴァンガード [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/65) Tags: Strategy Game Action Taking the world by storm, the card game Cardfight Vanguard has influenced many to integrate card games into their everyday lives. Players of the popular game are called "cardfighters," and they frequently battle each other in card shops. The game has inspired many people, one of which is the quiet and timid Aichi Sendou who is often ridiculed and bullied by his peers. Whenever he feels down, he takes a glance at Blaster Blade—a legendary rare card given to him when he was young—and gains the motivation to move on with his life. However, one day, school bully Katsumi Morikawa notices Aichi's treasure and snatches the card away from him. After a turn of events, Aichi soon discovers that the card is now in the hands of Toshiki Kai, a cardfighter who has become the strongest in town despite having only recently arrived. To make matters worse, Kai refuses to return the card unless Aichi defeats him in a cardfight. Much to everyone's surprise, Aichi rises up to the occasion. As he musters up his courage and pictures himself winning this decisive battle, Aichi begins to find his way into the adventurous world of Cardfight Vanguard. Card collection duels are simple and tilt to being childish. Protagonists here at least visit school, but the good things end here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! みつどもえ増量中！  [Bridge] (Finished 1/8) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, School Comedy, Slice of Life Second season of Mitsudomoe. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Rio: Rainbow Gate! Rio - Rainbow Gate!: Reshuffle リオ レインボーゲート! [Xebec] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Strategy Game Comedy, Ecchi The "Howard Resort Hotel" is an entertainment destination where people gather from around the world to grab huge fortunes. In the casino is a beautiful female dealer named Rio Rollins, known far and wide as the "Goddess of Victory". In order to approach closer to her mother, one of history's greatest dealers, she does battle to gather up the legendary cards called "gates". Those who gather all 13 gate cards are presented with the title MVCD (Most Valuable Casino Dealer), proof that they are a top dealer. Set in a vast resort, an exciting battle begins with rival dealers that'll take your breath away! Throw in some "supreme comedy" and a story that makes you cry when you least expect it, these cute and sexy girls will explode off your screen! With everyone's cheer of "Leave it to Rio!", Lady Luck'll be with you, too! It's difficult to make out of casino dealers something good unless it's Kaiji. Among tags ecchi is the main one.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Wolverine ウルヴァリン [Madhouse] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Martial Arts, Super Power Action Logan learns that his girlfriend, Mariko Yashida, who disappeared a year ago, has been taken to Tokyo by her father Shingen, who is the head of a Japanese crime syndicate and a supplier of AIM. He then decides to head to Japan to find her and take her back, no matter what. Never could understand superhero action.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Suite Precure♪ スイート プリキュア♪ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/48) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Action, Fantasy Major Land is a colorful world of music where instruments and notes come to life. During an annual concert event, Hummy, the cat songstress of Major Land, prepares to sing the "Melody of Happiness," capable of spreading happiness to worlds beyond. However, Mephisto, the king of Minor Land, interrupts the event and rewrites the score into the "Melody of Sorrow"—a dissonant composition that would instead cause despair when performed. In order to prevent this from happening, Hummy is tasked with finding the Precure, renowned warriors with an unmatched passion for music, and recreating the Melody of Happiness. Hummy arrives in Kanon Town, home of musically-inclined athlete Hibiki Houjou and studious baker Kanade Minamino. Engaging only in endless bickers, Hibiki and Kanade were formerly best friends and have since fallen out of touch. Their activities are stopped short by an unwelcome guest—the songstress of Minor Land, Siren. When Siren turns an important record into a gigantic monster, the girls' hearts resonate with the desire to protect what they hold dear and the two transform into the Suite Precure! As legendary warriors, Hibiki and Kanade will have to put their personal squabbles aside if they wish to protect the happiness of the world. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. .hack//Quantum  [Kinema Citrus] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Video Game Action, Adventure, Fantasy Tobias, Mary, and Sakuya challenge the impregnable "The One Sin", but they lose their way in the maze and unintentionally trap other guild members. A mysterious cat is watching their blunder. Is it another player character or NPC? I remember being quite impressed with Quantum. Now it's still nice, but can't call it a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Supernatural The Animation Supernatural: The Anime Series スーパーナチュラル・ザ・アニメーション [Madhouse] (Finished 3/22) Tags: Mythology Action, Horror, Supernatural Monsters walk the earth. While some may refute their existence as myths or urban legends, the Winchester brothers—Sam and Dean—know all too well what dangers lurk out there in the dark. Driving around in their 1967 Chevrolet Impala, these brothers have made it their life's mission to destroy anything supernatural that would threaten human lives. From shapeshifters to werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and even demons, the Winchesters track down and kill every evil being they can find, while also searching for the creature that caused them so much personal tragedy. Even freak shows get their own anime our days. Both can rot.   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Chocolat no Mahou The Magic of Chocolate ショコラの魔法 [SynergySP] (Finished 8/13) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Supernatural Chocolatier Chocolat Aikawa and her enigmatic acquaintance Cacao Theobroma run a shop named Chocolat Noir, which is famous for its specially crafted chocolates, known to miraculously grant wishes. A variety of troubled individuals find themselves in front of the shop, seeking its merchandise, but these chocolates are expensive—each customer must pay with their most precious belonging. Although Chocolat seems to be a lady who would have no problems of her own, due to her ability to grant wishes, beneath her mysterious facade is a distressed young girl who has not settled a score from her past... Episodic stuff. Someone burdened comes to Choco witch and is dealt with in 12 minutes long episode.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. The Epic Of ZektBach The Epic of Zektbach　第一章　シャムシールの舞 [AIC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural  The story begins when the kingdom of Noigllado suddenly invades the small country of Azuelgatt and brings it to the brink of destruction. General Adnowell leads Noigllado's troops against Azuelgatt's final, remaining line of defense: the fortress Doroah, led by a skilled female warrior named Shamshir. Presentation is not bad, but with half an hour length and rather stupid ending can't rate it high.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Ore-sama Kingdom オレ様キングダム [SynergySP] (Finished 3/14) Tags: Shoujo Romance  The story centers on Nonoha Nonohara, a young manga artist who just enrolled in a new school. She finds herself surrounded by a group of three "super-cute" guys. Pretty normal romance shoujo with three girls and boys inside half-length episodes. Good thing is that there's enough of humor relief that spares from boredom.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Spelunker Sensei Spelunker Is a Teacher スペランカー先生 [Studio PuYUKAI] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  There's a new teacher in town—Spelunker! This unusual man is anything but a typical instructor, giving speeches about traffic safety to the students, reacting strangely to a humidifier, and enjoying lunch— albeit with ample condiment mishaps. With such a bizarre new role model to learn from, Spelunker's students will never be the same! Some Onizuka imitation without the girls.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Break Blade Movie 5: Shisen no Hate Broken Blade 5 ブレイク ブレイド 死線ノ涯 [Production I.G, Xebec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha, Military Action, Fantasy Fifth Break Blade Movie. It's a long battle. Part one.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Break Blade Movie 6: Doukoku no Toride Broken Blade 6 ブレイク ブレイド 第六章 慟哭ノ砦 [Production I.G, Xebec] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shounen Adult Cast, Mecha, Military Action, Fantasy Sixth and final Break Blade movie. With all its limitations, it's still a better mecha than any Gundam I saw, at least no beating around the bush. And as with all mecha, without mecha itself it would look better (except for cases when it's crucially needed like Gurren Lagann).   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society 3D Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society 3D 攻殻機動隊 S.A.C. Solid State Society 3D [Production I.G] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Detective, Mecha, Military Mystery, Sci-Fi Kenji Kamiyama and Production I.G's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society movie will be converted into stereoscopic 3D. Kamiyama himself is overseeing the conversion, and I.G will also add a newly animated opening sequence. Don't see the need in this so called remake.   Overall Rating: 4/10   28. Shouwa Monogatari (Movie) 昭和物語 [WAO World] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical Drama Dramatic story of the Yamazaki family during the year Showa 39 (1964), the year that Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics. SOL about past is still SOL about past, and this period is full of hard labor and superstitions, so can't enjoy it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Hybrid Deka ハイブリッド刑事(デカ) [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Comedy A Himitsukessha Taka no Tsume spin-off movie sponsored entirely by Toyota which had a limited theatrical run; in order to promote their hybrid car line. In the film, the Chancellor takes a break from Eagle Talon to become a struggling section chief of the Metropolitan Police Department Hybrid Division (which was born from the consolidation of several ministries for financial reasons). Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   30. Shangguan Hai Ling 上官海铃 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: School Fantasy - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   31. Kara no Kyoukai Movie 8: Shuushou The Garden of Sinners Chapter 8: Epilogue 劇場版 空の境界 the Garden of sinners 終章 [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mystery While walking home, Mikiya Kokutou comes across a familiar sight: Shiki Ryougi standing by a railing amidst the falling snow, just as when he first met her four years ago. While the two talk of their past and shared experiences, Mikiya realizes that something is strange about Shiki; rather, this is not the woman he has come to know, but an entirely different entity that dwells within Shiki's body... It's not a movie, but a special which in this case means it's short, eventless and is basically monologue of text that authors failed to show by artistic means.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. Otona Joshi no Anime Time 大人女子のアニメタイム [Bones, Production Reed, The Answer Studio, WAO World] (Finished 4/4) Tags: Josei Adult Cast Drama, Romance Kawamo wo Suberu Kaze Returning to Japan to visit her parents after five years abroad, Noriko does not know what to expect. While some things in Kanazawa have changed and some things have stayed the same, Noriko cannot help but dredge up memories of her youth and secrets she thought she had left behind. Yuuge Trapped in a loveless marriage, Mimi has little excitement in her life until a rendezvous with the local garbage man, Kou, turns into something more. Now living with Kou—but still married to someone else—Mimi reflects on the decisions that brought her to this point and whether she should prioritize appearances or her happiness. Jinsei Best Ten Hatoko Nikawa has a habit of reflecting on her "best ten," the most memorable moments of her life, but is somewhat dismayed that, despite her 39 years on Earth, her best ten moments all occurred before her 18th birthday. Hearing that her middle school reunion is coming up, Hatoko hopes to reunite with her first love without knowing how much he has changed or whether he can live up to her expectations. Dokoka Dewanai Koko With an adult son who sleeps all day, a daughter who barely returns home, and a husband who lost his job, Maho Katou bears a lot of stress. Working nights at a local store to support her family, she has little time for sleep or pleasure. With Maho constantly overexerting herself, it may only be a matter of time until she collapses under pressure. Can't stand collections of short stories. Content is mature, but feels like boring grumbling over everything around most of the time.   Overall Rating: 6/10
  22. kivandopulus
    Steins;Gate is sort of must have anime to watch once. Other firm masterpieces this season include Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. and Tiger & Bunny . Hanasaku Iroha gets a honorary masterpiece which is a high score for a rural SOL anime.    1. Steins;Gate   [White Fox] (Finished 24/24) Tags: Psychological, Time Travel Drama, Sci-Fi, Suspense Eccentric scientist Rintarou Okabe has a never-ending thirst for scientific exploration. Together with his ditzy but well-meaning friend Mayuri Shiina and his roommate Itaru Hashida, Rintarou founds the Future Gadget Laboratory in the hopes of creating technological innovations that baffle the human psyche. Despite claims of grandeur, the only notable "gadget" the trio have created is a microwave that has the mystifying power to turn bananas into green goo. However, when Rintarou decides to attend neuroscientist Kurisu Makise's conference on time travel, he experiences a series of strange events that lead him to believe that there is more to the "Phone Microwave" gadget than meets the eye. Apparently able to send text messages into the past using the microwave, Rintarou dabbles further with the "time machine," attracting the ire and attention of the mysterious organization SERN. Due to the novel discovery, Rintarou and his friends find themselves in an ever-present danger. As he works to mitigate the damage his invention has caused to the timeline, he is not only fighting a battle to save his loved ones, but also one against his degrading sanity. I'm not a big fan, but can admit it as masterpiece. And since it's quite intellectual, can't deny it a 9.   Overall Rating: 9/10   2. Ao no Exorcist Blue Exorcist 青の祓魔師(エクソシスト [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 3/24) Tags: Shounen Mythology, School Action, Fantasy Humans and demons are two sides of the same coin, as are Assiah and Gehenna, their respective worlds. The only way to travel between the realms is by the means of possession, like in ghost stories. However, Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, cannot find a suitable host to possess and therefore, remains imprisoned in his world. In a desperate attempt to conquer Assiah, he sends his son instead, intending for him to eventually grow into a vessel capable of possession by the demon king. Ao no Exorcist follows Rin Okumura who appears to be an ordinary, somewhat troublesome teenager—that is until one day he is ambushed by demons. His world turns upside down when he discovers that he is in fact the very son of Satan and that his demon father wishes for him to return so they can conquer Assiah together. Not wanting to join the king of Gehenna, Rin decides to begin training to become an exorcist so that he can fight to defend Assiah alongside his brother Yukio. Exorcism is one of my least favorite concepts. Just another youkai and ghost hunter with more action. I'm actually surprised it's not prolonged for over 9000 episodes like much from similar content.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Drama, Supernatural Jinta Yadomi is peacefully living as a recluse, spending his days away from school and playing video games at home instead. One hot summer day, his childhood friend, Meiko "Menma" Honma, appears and pesters him to grant a forgotten wish. He pays her no mind, which annoys her, but he doesn't really care. After all, Menma already died years ago. At first, Jinta thinks that he is merely hallucinating due to the summer heat, but he is later on convinced that what he sees truly is the ghost of Menma. Jinta and his group of childhood friends grew apart after her untimely death, but they are drawn together once more as they try to lay Menma's spirit to rest. Re-living their pain and guilt, will they be able to find the strength to help not only Menma move on—but themselves as well? I remember this story quite well - a touching story that I can't call too clever though, so a firm masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 8/10   4. Deadman Wonderland デッドマン・ワンダーランド [Manglobe] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Shounen Gore, High Stakes Game, Survival Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Supernatural It looked like it would be a normal day for Ganta Igarashi and his classmates—they were preparing to go on a class field trip to a certain prison amusement park called Deadman Wonderland, where the convicts perform dangerous acts for the onlookers' amusement. However, Ganta's life is quickly turned upside down when his whole class gets massacred by a mysterious man in red. Framed for the incident and sentenced to death, Ganta is sent to the very jail he was supposed to visit. But Ganta's nightmare is only just beginning. The young protagonist is thrown into a world of sadistic inmates and enigmatic powers, to live in constant fear of the lethal collar placed around his neck that is slowed only by winning in the prison's deathly games. Ganta must bet his life to survive in a ruthless place where it isn't always easy to tell friend from foe, all while trying to find the mysterious "Red Man" and clear his name, in Deadman Wonderland. I dropped it midway initially, and that was actually a good choice. Lots of torture, mutilations and biohacking in this messy trashy action that does not deliver anything positive.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Nichijou Nichijou - My Ordinary Life 日常 [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, School Comedy Nichijou primarily focuses on the daily antics of a trio of childhood friends—high school girls Mio Naganohara, Yuuko Aioi and Mai Minakami—whose stories soon intertwine with the young genius Hakase Shinonome, her robot caretaker Nano, and their talking cat Sakamoto. With every passing day, the lives of these six, as well as of the many people around them, experience both the calms of normal life and the insanity of the absurd. Walking to school, being bitten by a talking crow, spending time with friends, and watching the principal suplex a deer: they are all in a day's work in the extraordinary everyday lives of those in Nichijou. I don't have many recollections of Nichijou, and now I realize, why. It's some 8 yonkomas inside each episode spiced with quite some abstract humor. So-so drawing and rather bleak characters make it even worse, so no idea why it's considered a good anime.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Gintama' Gintama Season 2 銀魂' [Sunrise] (Finished 51/51) Tags: Shounen Gag Humor, Historical, Parody, Samurai Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi After a one-year hiatus, Shinpachi Shimura returns to Edo, only to stumble upon a shocking surprise: Gintoki and Kagura, his fellow Yorozuya members, have become completely different characters! Fleeing from the Yorozuya headquarters in confusion, Shinpachi finds that all the denizens of Edo have undergone impossibly extreme changes, in both appearance and personality. Most unbelievably, his sister Otae has married the Shinsengumi chief and shameless stalker Isao Kondou and is pregnant with their first child. Bewildered, Shinpachi agrees to join the Shinsengumi at Otae and Kondou's request and finds even more startling transformations afoot both in and out of the ranks of the the organization. However, discovering that Vice Chief Toushirou Hijikata has remained unchanged, Shinpachi and his unlikely Shinsengumi ally set out to return the city of Edo to how they remember it. With even more dirty jokes, tongue-in-cheek parodies, and shameless references, Gintama' follows the Yorozuya team through more of their misadventures in the vibrant, alien-filled world of Edo. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II The World God Only Knows II 神のみぞ知るセカイ II [Manglobe] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Harem, Otaku Culture Comedy, Romance, Supernatural Keima Katsuragi, the "God of Conquest," returns to his quest of expelling runaway spirits that have possessed the hearts of women. Still stuck in his contract with the demon Elsie, he must continue to utilize the knowledge he has gained from mastering multitudes of dating simulators and chase out the phantoms that reside within by capturing the hearts of that which he hates most: three-dimensional girls. However, the God of Conquest has his work cut out for him. From exorcising karate practitioners and student teachers to the arrival of Elsie's best friend from Hell, he is up against a wide array of girls that will test his wit and may even take him by surprise. Though he would much rather stick to the world of 2D, he is trapped in lousy reality, and so Keima must trudge forward in his conquest of love. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Hidan no Aria Aria the Scarlet Ammo 緋弾のアリア [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Action, Comedy, Romance In response to the worsening crime rate, Japan creates Tokyo Butei High, an elite academy where "Butei" or armed detectives hone their deadly skills in hopes of becoming mercenary-like agents of justice. One particular Butei is Kinji Tooyama, an anti-social and curt sophomore dropout who was once a student of the combat-centric Assault Division. Kinji now lives a life of leisure studying logistics in order to cover up his powerful but embarrassing special ability. However, his peaceful days soon come to an end when he becomes the target of the infamous "Butei Killer," and runs into an emotional hurricane and outspoken prodigy of the highest rank, Aria Holmes Kanzaki, who saves Kinji's life and demands that he become her partner after seeing what he is truly capable of. School detectives and familiar archetypes... that's all needed to know, and watching first episodes does not improve that notion.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Hanasaku Iroha Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow 花咲くいろは [P.A. Works] (Finished 26/26) Tags: Workplace Drama  Ohana Matsumae is an energetic and wild teenager residing in Tokyo with her carefree single mother. Abruptly, her mother decides to run away with her new boyfriend from debt collectors, forcing the young girl to fend for herself—as per her mother's "rely only on yourself" philosophy—in rural Japan, where her cold grandmother runs a small inn. Driven to adapt to the tranquil lifestyle of the countryside, Ohana experiences and deals with the challenges of working as a maid, as well as meeting and making friends with enthralling people at her new school and the inn. I have good recollections of this high quality rural SOL, but it's just nice SOL without big story involved, so can't rate it too high.   Overall Rating: 7/10   10. C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control [C] CONTROL - The Money and Soul of Possibility  [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Super Power Action, Mystery, Suspense  Money is power, and without it, life is meaningless. In a country whose economy is in shambles, second-year economics university student Kimimaro Yoga understands this fact all too well, as he is surrounded by the relatively luxurious lives of his peers and struggling to make ends meet. However, his world is turned on its head when a stranger in a top hat arrives one late night at his door. Going by the name Masakaki, the visitor petitions Yoga to come to the Eastern Financial District, a place where money flows in abundance if one offers their "future" as collateral. Although reluctant, greed triumphs reason and Yoga accepts the offer, thus taking on the mantle of an Entre. But unbeknownst to him, the land of wealth he has entered is an alternate realm built in the likeness of his own, where Entres are forced to participate in weekly duels called Deals, with their collateral at stake. Pitted against his countrymen and fate, Yoga must quickly adapt in this new world if he hopes to protect his fortune and future—and discover just how much money is truly worth. Dropped it before, and don't see the appeal of duels with money flavor now as well. Kaiji tells much better stories about money power.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl 電波女と青春男 [Shaft] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Comedy, Sci-Fi Makoto Niwa meticulously tallies the amount of positive and negative youthful experiences he engages in as if to grade his own life. When his parents go overseas, he moves to a new town to live with his aunt, welcoming the change and ready for a fresh start. However, as ordinary as he had imagined his adolescence to be, he could never have taken the existence of an enigmatic long-lost cousin into account. Upon moving into his aunt's house, he discovers the cousin he never knew about: Erio Touwa. Despite being Makoto's age, she couldn't be more different: Erio chooses to wrap herself in a futon all day rather than to go to school. She even claims to be an alien, and with a speech pattern and personality to back it up, any chance of Makoto's dreamt-of normal life is instantly tossed out the window. As he meets a string of other eccentric girls in town, Makoto must face the possibility of seeing his youth points in the red. However, he might be surprised by how thrilling an abnormal youth can be. It did not impress me neither back and did has not now. All the aliens theme feels bad, and girls are weird not in a fun way. And of course there's no real story, just characters stories and events.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Tiger & Bunny TIGER & BUNNY （タイガー・アンド・バニー） [Sunrise] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Adult Cast, Super Power Action, Comedy, Mystery In Stern Bild City, those with special abilities are called "NEXT," and can use their powers for good or bad. A unique organized group of NEXT appear regularly on Hero TV, where they chase down evildoers to bring limelight to their sponsors and earn Hero Points in the hopes of becoming the next "King of Heroes." Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, known as "Wild Tiger," is a veteran hero whose performance has been dwindling as of late, partially due to his inability to cooperate with other heroes. After a disappointing season in which most of the other heroes far outperformed Tiger, he is paired up with a brand new hero who identifies himself by his real name—Barnaby Brooks Jr. Barnaby, nicknamed "Bunny" by his frivolous new partner, quickly makes it clear that the two could not be more different. Though they mix as well as oil and water, Tiger and Bunny must learn to work together, both for the sake of their careers and to face the looming threats within Stern Bild. I enjoyed it immensely when it was airing. And it's especially surprising to see that it was done by Sunrise who probably hired a fine original scenario writer and finally proved that they still got what it takes. Great comedy, parody and there's even decent plot.   Overall Rating: 8/10   13. SKET Dance スケットダンス [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 12/77) Tags: Shounen School Comedy At Kaimei High School there is a special club dedicated to helping others known as the SKET Brigade. The brains of the group is Kazuyoshi "Switch" Usui, a tech-savvy otaku who speaks through speech synthesis software, while the brawn is provided by Hime "Himeko" Onizuka, the hockey stick-wielding girl once known as "Onihime." And last but not least, their leader is Yuusuke "Bossun" Fujisaki, whose latent ability is evoked by his goggles, allowing him to summon the awesome power of extraordinary concentration. However, most of the school only know them as the club that handles odd jobs. Many of their days are spent in the clubroom slacking off, but when there is something to be done, they give their all to help others—usually in sincere, but unintentionally hilarious, ways. The SKET Brigade do all they can to provide support, kindness, encouragement, and troubleshooting to any students crazy enough to ask for their services. I watched quite a few episodes in the past, but was not really impressed. It's of high quality and decent humor, but also of episodic nature. It can be called Gintama transferred to modern time, and I don't consider even Gintama a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen 逆境無頼カイジ 破戒録篇 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, High Stakes Game, Psychological, Strategy Game Suspense Owing to an increasing debt, Kaiji Itou ends up resuming his old lifestyle. One day, while walking on the street, he stumbles upon Yuuji Endou, who is hunting Kaiji due to the money he owes to the Teiai Group. Unaware of this, Kaiji eagerly follows Endou, hoping for a chance to participate in another gamble, but soon finds out the loan shark's real intentions when he is kidnapped. Given that Kaiji is unable to pay off his huge debt, the Teiai Group instead sends him to work in an underground labor camp. He is told that he will have to live in this hell for 15 years, alongside other debtors, until he can earn his freedom. His only hope to put an early end to this nightmare is by saving enough money to be able to go back to the surface for a single day. Once he is there, he plans to obtain the remaining money needed to settle his account by making a high-stakes wager. However, as many temptations threaten his scarce income, Kaiji may have to resort to gambling sooner than he had expected. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Dog Days ドッグデイズ [Seven Arcs] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Isekai Dog Days takes place in the world of Flonyard, an alternate Earth inhabited by beings who resemble humans, but also have the ears and tails of specific animals. The Republic of Biscotti, a union of dog-like citizens, has come under attack by the feline forces of the Galette Leo Knights. In an effort to save Biscotti, Princess Millhiore summons a champion from another world in order to defend her people. That champion is Cinque Izumi, a normal junior high student from Earth. Agreeing to assist Biscotti, Cinque retrieves a sacred weapon called the Palladion and prepares for war. In Flonyard, wars are fought with no casualties and are more akin to sports competitions with the goal of raising money for the participating kingdoms. Cinque is successful in his role as Biscotti’s champion, but learns that a summoned champion cannot be returned to their home world. The scientists of Biscotti will endeavor to find a way for Cinque to return home, but until they figure something out, he must serve Princess Millhiore by continuing to fight as Biscotti’s hero. I rarely miss isekai, but this is not one. Isekai for me is intelligent protagonist in new environment while here we have a shounen kid enjoying harem in new bright world with only one relatively serious action episode. This is not Isekai. This is stupidity of El Hazard all over again.   Overall Rating: 5/10   16. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi A Bridge to the Starry Skies 星空へ架かる橋 [Doga Kobo] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Kazuma Hoshino is preparing himself for a new stage of his life as a teenager. Because of his brother Ayumu's weaker than average health, their parents thought it best for the family to move out from the city to a more rural environment. Now the two brothers are off to the Yorozuyo Inn where they’ll be staying until their parents can settle affairs back in the city and set up their new home. Their arrival to the inn doesn't go as planned though when they catch the wrong bus, wind up in the middle of nowhere, Ayumu gets his hat stolen by a wild monkey, and Kazuma gets lost in the woods trying to track the animal down. It all leads to a chance encounter with a spirited young girl named Ui, who Kazuma ends up accidentally falling onto and kissing while she tries leading him back to the bus stop. This hardly sits well with Ui’s friend Ibuki who swiftly kicks Kazuma and sends him on his way. Much to Kazuma's continued horror, his bad luck is perpetuated at the inn thanks to its landlady Senka and her slightly perverted sense of humor, and then finding out that two of his classmates are the girls he embarrassed himself in front of back in the woods! Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi finds Kazuma adapting to his new school, dealing with the multiple women who have entered his life, providing emotional support for his younger brother, and coping with living with his new landlady. However, for some reason, something about this place is bringing whispers of the past into Kazuma's mind. Small flashes back to a more innocent time and a friendship long forgotten. What could this déjà vu mean? A bit higher quality than usual, but it's a very usual visual novel at rural school.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Astarotte no Omocha! Astarotte's Toy アスタロッテのおもちゃ！ [Diomedéa] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Isekai Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi Succubi, like the young princess Astarotte "Lotte" Ygvar, require the life seed from men to survive, replenish their magic, and continue the royal lineage of the magical realm. This means succubi are required to keep a harem of men close at hand. Ironically, Lotte despises men, which will put her life at risk once she matures. To convince her to fulfill her duties, one of her attendants, Judith Snorrevik, goes to the human realm to find a human male whom Lotte can tolerate. Judith returns with 23-year-old Naoya Touhara, a single father who unfortunately leaves his daughter, Asuha, behind in the human realm. As the first member of Lotte's harem, Naoya quickly adapts to this new environment, serving the princess to make her happy, rather than viewing her with sexual intent. Unfortunately, when his daughter is allowed to arrive in the magical realm, Naoya's relationship quickly worsens with Lotte. Even so, he strives to patch up their relationship. It soon becomes clear, however, that Naoya's presence in the magical realm is more than just mere coincidence. As he develops his bond with Lotte, fate begins to pull together the connections that tie him and everyone else within this enchanting world. Typical romcom with leading tsundere despite the fact it's a fantasy world. Very bland .   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Seikon no Qwaser II The Qwaser of Stigmata II 聖痕のクェイサー II [Hoods Entertainment] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Super Power Action, Supernatural, Ecchi Sasha is partnered with Hana as his new Maria. They infiltrate an all-girls academy, forcing Sasha to crossdress, in search of a Qwaser-related artifact called the Magdalena of Thunder which has appeared in one of the students. However, they have some competition in their search of it. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Toriko トリコ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/147) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Gourmet Hamburgers that grow out of the ground like four-leaf clovers, mountain ranges carved out of ice cream, and warm servings of mac and cheese that stew deep within the stomachs of volcanoes fill the landscape. This world of delectable natural wonders has reached a prime age of exploration—the Gourmet Age! Citizens and chefs alike aspire to taste and prepare the finest dishes, while adventurers called "Gourmet Hunters" seek out delicious rare ingredients. Possessing a unique set of skills, the wild and passionate Gourmet Hunter Toriko is infamous for discovering 2% of all known ingredients. Together with his friend Komatsu—a highly skilled chef working at a five-star hotel—Toriko strives to complete his Full Course Menu of Life. But it isn’t going to be easy; in order to obtain the most delicious ingredients, Toriko must battle against obstacles like deadly monsters, evil organizations, and food itself! Another childish gourmet morning show.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. A-Channel Aチャンネル [Studio Gokumi] (Finished 12/12) Tags: CGDCT, School Comedy Tooru and Run have been best friends forever, so when Tooru learns that she's managed to get into the same high school as Run, she runs to tell her... only to find Run in a compromising position with yet another girl, Yuko. Needless to say, that makes things a bit awkward at school, with Tooru fending off those who might be interested in Run while Yuko and their other girlfriend, Nagi, have to deal with Run's own penchant for drama. Very similar to Nichijou - just gags and shallow characters.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai: Under the Innocent Sky. 俺たちに翼はない -under the innocent sky. [Nomad] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Harem Comedy, Drama, Romance, Ecchi Haneda Takashi has a secret he cannot speak of. To leave his dull school-life, he was supposed to have escaped to another world. However, he is reeled in by certain ties on his heart. One of these is Kobato, his awkward younger sister. The other is Watarai Asuka, his negligent girlfriend. Chitose Shuusuke is a poor freeloader. He passes his days working at various part-time jobs. One day, he has a disastrous first encounter with Tamaizumi Hiyoko. The next time they meet, Shuusuke discovers that they are fellow employees at his part-time job. Narita Hayato sees himself as a "hard-boiled" person. Back-breaking jobs are nothing to him. Hayato shuns normal human contact, but, during the nights, he would get together with delinquents and other denizens of the night. One such night, he meets the cheerful and oblivious Otori Naru. The relationships with these girls will greatly affect these 3 young men. But what, exactly, is the relationship these young men have with each other? Why only crappy harem ecchi VNs are adapted... anyway, simplistic, vulgar and just stupd.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Inazuma Eleven Go イナズマイレブン Go [OLM] (Finished 1/47) Tags: Super Power, Team Sports  Tenma Matsukaze is a new student at Raimon Junior High. Due to his love for soccer, he decides to join the school soccer team, which gained its reputation after the amazing performance shown ten years earlier in the Football Frontier International, a tournament that hosts the best youth teams the world has to offer. Unfortunately, the once renowned school doesn't have the soccer spirit it once enjoyed. This is primarily due to the fact that soccer in Japan is now controlled by a dark entity known as the "Fifth Sector." They alone decide the fate of every match, instructing teams to either win or lose. The actions of the Fifth Sector have beaten down the country’s soccer teams, who no longer have a love for the game. Tenma and his teammates will look to shift this paradigm and fight back against their evil oppressors. Thankfully, they will not be alone in this battle, as they will get help from a group known as the "Resistance." Cheer on the boys of Inazuma Eleven Go as they fight the good fight! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. (TV) You're Being Summoned, Azazel よんでますよ、アザゼルさん。 [Production I.G] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Seinen Gag Humor, Mythology Comedy, Supernatural Akutabe is a detective who summons devils to solve the troubles of his clients. One day, a low class devil Azazel Atsushi is summoned by Akutabe and is used harshly by him and his assistant Rinko. It's abusive, violent, disgusting and genuinely unfunny. Episodes are only half-length, because it's only senseless gags and even worse cases, anyway.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Zexal Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal 遊☆戯☆王ZEXAL [Gallop] (Finished 1/73) Tags: Shounen Strategy Game Action, Fantasy In the bustling and futuristic city of Heartland, a young boy named Yuuma Tsukumo has a dream that everyone his age wants to achieve—earning the title of the greatest duelist! Sadly, due to his lackluster dueling skills, this dream is far from achievable. But when the school bully, Ryouga "Shark" Kamishiro, splits the key given to him by his father into two pieces, he inadvertently sets Yuuma on a collision course with his dream. Retaining one half of the key, Yuuma begins a duel with Shark, but soon realizes that his inexperienced skills are no match for him. In a sudden turn of events, Yuuma's key repairs itself, and the "Door of Destiny'' appears before him. Using the key to open it, Yuuma is greeted by an alien by the name of Astral—a being only he can see. The bewildered Yuuma soon learns that his memories have been divided into 100 "Number Cards," all of which he must retrieve. However, he is also not the only one looking for them. Bombarded by these revelations, Yuuma, alongside Astral, must defend the world from the upcoming threats that loom over Heartland City—regardless of any divine intervention that may occur. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Maria†Holic Alive まりあ†ほりっく あらいぶ [Shaft] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Comedy, Girls Love Crossdressing, Parody, School When Kanako Miyamae transferred to a new all-girls school, she hoped to find true love. What she found instead was the beautiful Mariya Shidou, a charming classmate Kanako met on her first day. But Mariya has one flaw: she is actually a cross-dressing boy! After discovering Mariya's secret and becoming stuck with him as her roommate, Kanako's life has become a series of misfortunes. All she wants is to find the girl of her dreams, which is hard to do with the meddling of the sadistic Mariya and his sharp-tongued maid Matsurika Shinouji. Maria†Holic Alive continues the story of Kanako as she deals with being Mariya's roommate and aims to find true love, while enduring high school itself. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku A Thirty-Year Old's Health and Physical Education 30歳の保健体育 [Gathering] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Parody Romance, Ecchi Based on Mitsuba and Ichijinsha's 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku (Health and Physical Education for 30-Year-Olds) guidebook. The guide is aimed at men in their 30s who have not experienced romance or sex with women yet. Imagawa Hayao is a 30-year-old virgin bachelor. One day, a cupid descends from heaven with the express purpose of forcing him to graduate from virginity. Thus unfolds a pure love story between a 30-year-old bachelor and a 30-year-old bachelorette. Episodes are half length and basically present SexEd in more playful form. It's of specific interest, not finding it particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Gundalian Invaders Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 爆丸バトルブローラーズ [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/39) Tags: Strategy Game Action, Adventure, Fantasy Bakugan Interspace is a virtual reality system, where players can brawl against each other and take part in tournaments. Initially designed to help practice and enhance Bakugan skills, it quickly became a meeting place for many enthusiasts. During one of Danma Kuusou's duels, the Interspace crashes, and he gets knocked out cold. Before regaining consciousness, he experiences a vision of Bakugan at war with each other once again. The explosion of energy that accompanied Danma's fight and caused the shutdown of the system sends shock waves across the galaxy, attracting the attention of the Twelve Orders, a Gundalian organization. They infiltrate Bakugan Interspace, looking for strong brawlers to join them in their upcoming war with another alien race, the Neathians. Danma and his companions—Shun Kazami and Chouji Marukura—soon find themselves caught up in an extraterrestrial war. However, distant as it may seem, the conflict threatens the very sovereignty of Earth and the future of the Bakugan race as well. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox Battle Girls: Time Paradox [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Historical, Isekai, Samurai, Super Power, Time Travel Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Yoshino Hide is an average girl who always seems to find trouble wherever she goes. One day Yoshino visits a local shrine to pray in order to pass her upcoming test. However, Yoshino sees a blue light coming from inside the Shrine and looks inside to find a mysterious person performing a magic spell. In a stroke of bad luck, Yoshino trips on a small bell and crashes into the shrine, prompting the stranger to catch her. Upon Yoshino's capture, the magic spell spirals out of control and sends Yoshino back in time to the Sengoku Era. Yoshino then encounters Akechi Mitsuhide and Oda Nobunaga. But unlike what really happened during the era, Hideyoshino realizes that everyone in the world is female. She then decides to help Oda Nobunaga find the Crimson Armor which is said to allow the person wearing the armor to conquer all of Japan. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. HenSemi (TV) 変ゼミ [Xebec] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Seinen Comedy, Ecchi Matsutaka Nanako is a normal university student, who happened to enroll in an Abnormal Physiology seminar. She tries to keep her mental state sound, but other abnormal classmates start to influence her personality... And another half length series that comes from OVA. Again, fetish oriented and of specific interest.   Overall Rating: 6/10   30. Hyouge Mono へうげもの [Bee Train] (Finished 3/39) Tags: Seinen Adult Cast, Historical, Samurai, Visual Arts The story is set during Japan's Sengoku Jidai (Era of the Warring States) and centers on Furuta Sasuke, a vassal of the great warlord Oda Nobunaga and a man obsessed with tea ceremony and material desires in his pursuit of a fortuitous life. Having learned from Oda and the legendary tea master Sen no Soueki, Furuta walks the way of the Hyouge Mono. Tea ceremony is a super niche theme, in samurai times even more so. Extremely boring.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Digimon Xros Wars: Aku no Death General to Nanatsu no Oukoku Digimon Fusion デジモンクロスウォーズ～悪のデスジェネラルと七つの王国～ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy  Returning to the Digital World, Taiki and Shoutmon learn that the Bagra Army has taken it over and reformatted the world to have Seven Kingdoms, each ruled by a general. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 5/10   32. X-Men エックスメン [Madhouse] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Super Power Action, Drama The X-Men are reunited following the death of a teammate, and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki (Armor). There, they confront the U-Men, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen their own army, and the battle for justice is on. Call me for A-men.   Overall Rating: 5/10   33. Softenni Softenni! the Animation そふてにっ [Xebec] (Finished 2/12) Tags: School, Team Sports Comedy, Sports, Ecchi The tennis comedy centers around the members of a female middle school soft tennis team and the twists and turns that their lives take as they aim for the nationals. Just random humor, mostly about imagining perverted situations. Still only decent.   Overall Rating: 6/10   34. Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream プリティーリズム オーロラドリーム [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 1/51) Tags: Shoujo Idols (Female), Music Sports Aira Harune, a clumsy yet happy-go-lucky girl, is suddenly dragged into the popular world of Prism Shows—an idol show based on figure skating, where performers called "Prism Stars" wear outfits encased in Prism Stones and perform stylistic Prism Jumps. Captivated by the dazzling fashion and gorgeous Prism Jumps, Aira decides to become a Prism Star herself. She soon encounters the hot-headed Rizumu "Rhythm" Amamiya, who desires to perform the legendary Prism Jump “Aurora Rising”; as well as the prideful Mion Takamine, who dreams of becoming the brightest Prism Star above the rest. The journey of these girls is marked by friendship, growth, and unexpected encounters. Can they perform Prism Jumps high enough to reach their dreams and become the next Prism Queens? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   35. Moshidora もしドラ [Production I.G] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Drama, Sports Minami joins her High School baseball team as a team manager after finding out that her best friend Yuuki is in the hospital and can't be a team manager any more. In order to try to fill in for Yuuki and to help out the team the best she can, she goes out to find a book on how to manage a baseball team. Unfortunately, she accidentally buys Peter Drucker's book called "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices" which is actually about how to properly manage a business. Because she couldn't return the book, she decides to read it anyway and to try to apply the business management concepts to the baseball team so that way they can go on and win the Nationals. Spokon Drama! No, thanks.   Overall Rating: 6/10   36. Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up Dororonえん魔くん メ〜ラめら [Brain's Base] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Mythology, Parody, Super Power Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi Meet the Demon Patrol: a hotheaded demon prince; a sultry, half-naked ice princess; a lusty frog-demon spy; a talking wizard hat... and one little girl. This rag-tag group has been charged with the protection of Earth from a multitude of demons who would love nothing more than to bring their world crashing down around them. They'll face off against a vengeful squid, a somnambulant kitty cat, a pot full of snakes, a night-stalking deciduous, a hater of crotches, and even a literal butthead! Descend into an unreality filled with pratfalls, lewd behavior, and enough obscure cultural jetsam to drown us all! I've already seen two versions of Enma-kun. Another incarnation of this ancient franchise does not good as well.   Overall Rating: 6/10   37. Shouwa Monogatari 昭和物語 TV [WAO World] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Historical Drama Dramatic story of the Yamazaki family during the year Showa 39 (1964), the year that Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics. Both movie and the series are pure boredom.   Overall Rating: 6/10   38. Jewelpet Sunshine ジュエルペット サンシャイン [Studio Comet] (Finished 1/52) Tags: Anthropomorphic, School Comedy, Fantasy  In Sunshine Academy, there is a class of lost causes known as "the leftovers", the Plum class. Ruby and Kanon Mizushirou navigate through high school life in a fantastical world while juggling their warped friendship with their crush on Mikage Shiraishi. Sequel or something as there were many Jewelpets already.   Overall Rating: 5/10   39. Balala Xiao Mo Xian: Caihong Xin Shi Balala the Fairies: Rainbow Heart Stone 巴啦啦小魔仙之彩虹心石 [Alpha Animation] (Finished 1/36) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Comedy, Fantasy  After the fairies defeated Gunala, the Evil Goddess, another crisis hit the Fairy Castle!! The magical energy of the world has been devoured by the evil wizards. The Rainbow Flower, the source of the magic power, is soon to wither, and this will destroy the world of Fairy Castle. Only finding the legendary Rainbow Heart Stone and letting it recollect all the essential energy can save the world. To solve this biggest crisis in the history of the Fairy Castle, Prince YouLe, Sally, and their new friend XiaoQian, have to go back to the human world and reunite with Maggie and Michelle to fight the evil again. Primitive Chinese mahou shoujo.   Overall Rating: 5/10   40. Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen リングにかけろ1 世界大会編 [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/6) Tags: Combat Sports After defeating Black Shaft's makeshift Team USA and proving their worth to the Shadow Clan, Team Golden Japan Jr. will finally enter the World Jr. Boxing Tournament. In order to fulfill their goal of a perfect victory they'll have to take on teams from countries like Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, and the mysterious and godlike Team Greece. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   41. Chao Shou Wuzhuang: Renzhe Wudi RevEvolution 超兽武装之仁者无敌 [-] (Finished 1/33) Tags: Mecha Action, Sci-Fi The story begins from a boy named Kino, a junior high student. Every one hundred thousand years, the Seven Parrallel Universes will line in one path and be connected for seven days. And every this time, there will be wars between different civilizations of universes, as there will usually be someone with extremely strong power, who wants to conquer all universes. But at the same time, a team of legend warriors selected from every universe will appear to stop this, and they are the Army of Ultra Beast Force. This time, Mio, the strongest lord of all universes is going to awake. As one of the selected warriors, Kino is and his friends are trained by Master Wyatt, travel through the multiverse, meeting new friends and rivals, and try to stop Mio. With his powerful "Dark Energy Locker" which allows him to become a Robo-Soldier by releasing the potential dark energy inside himself, he encounters evil enemies along the way. Primitive Chinese 3D mecha.   Overall Rating: 5/10   42. Katte ni Kaizou かってに改蔵 [Shaft] (Finished 6/6) Tags: Shounen Parody, School Comedy, Sci-Fi Katsu Kaizou is a very gullible, 17-year-old high school student and a believer in science fiction, aliens, ghosts, UFOs, conspiracies, etc. He thinks that everything going on around him is the result of some sort of alien plot to take over the world. Each story is pretty much self-contained and is completely bizarre. Kaizou joins the school's science club, makes new friends, and ends up coming in contact with all sorts of strange things like log people, deadly sushi, pee-blades, scary infections, robot invasions, ghosts, living dolls, and more! Absurd paranormal gags, very random.   Overall Rating: 6/10   43. Appleseed XIII アップルシード XIII [Production I.G, Jinnis Animation Studios] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Detective, Mecha, Military Action, Sci-Fi After facing massive destruction from a devastating war, the city Olympus has become the last stronghold as the center of command for the world. In order to protect the city from a group of terrorists known as the Argonauts, former LAPD SWAT member, Deunan Knotts, runs special military forces consisting of Biroids (cloned humans) and her cyborg partner Brialeos. Knotts must protect the city at all costs but is met with difficulties when Al Ceides, the Argonaut leader thought to be dead, resurfaces and causes problems. Content is ok , but 3D visuals are disastrous and can't be recommended.   Overall Rating: 6/10   44. Chuugakusei chu-gakusei. 中学星 [-] (Finished 0/2) Tags: Comedy  The story takes place on a faraway planet, called "Chuu-Gakusei," where everything is in monochrome. The story follows Tanaka Satou, a junior high school teacher. All his students share the same name of Hiroshi Abe. Both the teacher and students wear a white, skin-tight garment that covers the entire body, including hands, feet and face. A new character, Black Teacher, is introduced and reveals the existence of the Kuro Chuu-Gakusei, an all-black version of the planet. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   45. Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo Children Who Chase Lost Voices 星を追う子ども [CoMix Wave Films] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance If you could turn all your memories into a song, what would it resemble? Between being an exceptional student and taking care of the house alone during her mother's absence, Asuna Watase's only distraction is listening to her old crystal radio in her secret mountain hideout. One day, she accidentally tunes to a mysterious and melancholic melody, different from anything she has ever heard before. Soon after, an enigmatic boy named Shun saves her from a dangerous creature, unknowingly dragging Asuna on a long journey to a long lost land bound to surpass her very imagination, turning her once melodic life into an intricate requiem. Even Shinkai imitates Ghibli. Well, I don't like both, so result is obvious. Ghibli fans would probably be shocked by the amount of violence by the end. Others would be bored with slow pace narration.   Overall Rating: 6/10   46. Towa no Quon 1: Utakata no Kaben Towanoquon: The Ephemeral Petals トワノクオン 第1章 泡沫の花弁 [Bones] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Living amongst the rest of humanity, there is a small number of people known as "Attractors" that possess strange powers. Fearful of these dangerous mutations, a highly secretive organization named Custos uses cyborgs from a group called WTOC to exterminate Attractors before they can injure anyone or disrupt the social order. Conversely, inside the theme park Fantasium Garden, there is a hidden group of Attractors who want to save their people from being eradicated by Custos. Led by the ever-optimistic Quon Mitsuchi, the Attractors take on intense fights against Custos's WTOC in the hopes of protecting the existence of their kind. A mix of Guyver and some espers... not sure I'm going to watch further parts.   Overall Rating: 6/10   47. Onigamiden Legend of the Millennium Dragon 鬼神伝 [Pierrot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Mythology Action, Award Winning, Supernatural A 15-year-old boy travels back in time—over 1,200 years ago to the Heian period—and faces a war between oni (demons) and humans in the former Japanese capital of Kyoto. Drawing is poor, story nothing spectacular.   Overall Rating: 6/10   48. Tezuka Osamu no Buddha: Akai Sabaku yo! Utsukushiku Buddha: The Great Departure 手塚治虫のブッダ－赤い砂漠よ！美しく－ [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Historical, Military Drama, Supernatural  In the ancient Shakya Kingdom, King Suddhodhana learns that his wife, Maya, has a curious dream. A white elephant with six tusks enters her body—a sign that their future child, Siddhartha Gautama, is blessed. The wise prophet Master Asita sees the child and foretells that he will become "chakravartin," the ruler of the world. Meanwhile, young Chapra suffers the injustice of the rigid caste system. When Kosala army marches on Kapilavastu, Shakya's capital, Chapra plays a part in forcing them to retreat. But to escape the life of slavery and give his mother a better life, Chapra joins the Kosala army and swears to rise in the ranks. As the young Siddhartha grows, he is taught everything he needs to know to inherit the throne. However, Siddhartha has no interest in martial arts or running a kingdom. What he seeks are the truths of the world and the meaning of life itself. Although Kosala's ever-expanding power threatens Shakya, Siddhartha abandons the royal life and ventures into the world to find the enlightenment he desires. Realization is not bad and it becomes even moderately interesting, but theme itself is of very little interest for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   49. Tibet Inu Monogatari The Tibetan Dog チベット犬物語 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Mythology After the death of his mother, Tenzin decided to leave town to live with his father in the Tibetan grasslands. Life is tough at first, until one day the young man witnesses a fight between Tibetan guard dogs and a dog with golden hairs outside the pack. Another movie about dog for kids.   Overall Rating: 5/10   50. Crayon Shin-chan Movie 19: Arashi wo Yobu Ougon no Spy Daisakusen Crayon Shin-chan: Fierceness That Invites Storm! Operation Golden Spy 映画 クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ黄金のスパイ大作戦 [Shin-Ei Animationx] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Seinen Comedy  Comical action spy film including an indecent material (flatus) and a story of a girl who had obeyed her parents, but becomes self-aware. A mystery spy girl Lemon Sunomono suddenly appears in front of Shinnosuke, and she calls herself an emissary of Action Kamen. She had trained as a spy by her parents in the Sukashipestan Republic, and works for the Queens. Under her guidance, Shinnosuke decides to be a spy to fight for justice, and receives spy training. Under the instruction of Action Kamen, Lemon and Shinnosuke perform a mission to creep into the laboratory in the Hedelna Kingdom and recapture a capsule from an evil professor, but Lemon finds the real purpose of the Queens, and they fight to foil the plot of the Queens. There was already a Shin-chan movie about spies with the flavor of 90s, and it was a lot better than this one.   Overall Rating: 5/10   51. Sojunghan Nal-ui Kkum Green Days: Dinosaur and I 소중한 날의 꿈 [Studio Meditation With a Pencil] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy, Drama, Romance  Not wanting to lose, Yi-rang orchestrates a collapse in the middle of a relay race even though she's on the verge of giving up her dream of becoming an athlete. At the same time, Soo-min transfers in from Seoul and Cheol-soo, who dreams of becoming a scientist, come into her life. They are all immature but they are in the midst of youthful aspiration. With this warm-hearted animation, Han Hye-jin-I and Ahn Jae-hoon encourage Yi-rang's dreams and portray the fantasy and flutter of adolescence through encounters with good people. Set in the '80s and '90s, an old umbrella and a railroad crossing the downtown in the film is the stuff that reminds us of our lost past, evoking a reminiscence in the audience of that which is vanished. It is a way of evoking the real "dreams" that we have lost in this modern society where a rapid capitalization is progressing. Boring SOL with juvenile dreams, and it all lasts for almost 2 hours...   Overall Rating: 5/10   52. Toufu Kozou Little Ghostly Adventures Of The Tofu Boy 豆富小僧 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Comedy  Based on Kyougoku Natsuhiko's Toufu Kozou Sugoroku-douchuu Furidashi novel. Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  23. kivandopulus
    Usagi Drop is the definite favorite here. But I also find Yuru Yuri enjoyable enough.   1. Usagi Drop  Bunny Drop うさぎドロップ [Production I.G] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Josei Childcare, Iyashikei Slice of Life Daikichi Kawachi is a 30-year-old bachelor working a respectable job but otherwise wandering aimlessly through life. When his grandfather suddenly passes away, he returns to the family home to pay his respects. Upon arriving at the house, he meets a mysterious young girl named Rin who, to Daikichi’s astonishment, is his grandfather's illegitimate daughter! The shy and unapproachable girl is deemed an embarrassment to the family, and finds herself ostracized by her father's relatives, all of them refusing to take care of her in the wake of his death. Daikichi, angered by their coldness toward Rin, announces that he will take her in—despite the fact that he is a young, single man with no prior childcare experience. Usagi Drop is the story of Daikichi's journey through fatherhood as he raises Rin with his gentle and affectionate nature, as well as an exploration of the warmth and interdependence that are at the heart of a happy, close-knit family. It's a very touching childcare drama and occasionally comedy.   Overall Rating: 8/10   2. Mayo Chiki! まよチキ! [feel.] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Crossdressing, Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Due to his mother and sister, who both love professional wrestling, Kinjirou Sakamachi developed a resilient body that could take hard punches, aggressive kicks, and even deadly vehicle bumps, in order to survive their various grappling positions and locks. However, he also developed gynophobia, an abnormal fear of women. With just one touch from a girl, his nose bleeds uncontrollably, he sweats excessively, and in rare cases, faints abruptly. His life changes for the worse because of a fated meeting in the restroom. While trying to escape from a girl, he discovers that the most popular student in their school, Subaru Konoe—the butler of the headmaster’s daughter, Kanade Suzutsuki—is actually female! Surprised, Subaru violently assaults Kinjirou, dealing significant damage and knocking him unconscious. When he comes to, he meets Kanade. In exchange for his silence, she promises to help cure his phobia. Slapstick romcom that is watchable, but not outstanding.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. No.6 NO.6［ナンバー・シックス］ [Bones] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6. BL where hysterical guys constantly get in some danger. Super confusing and inconsistent.   Overall Rating: 5/10   4. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! Baka & Test – Summon the Beasts 2 バカとテストと召喚獣 にっ！ [SILVER LINK.] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Love Polygon, School, Super Power Comedy, Romance The blockheads of Class F return with more misadventures! Rather than desperately competing against the elite students in Class A for better facilities, they have other problems at hand. While the girls are constantly vying for the boys' attention, Akihisa Yoshii and Yuuji Sakamoto are being blackmailed by a stalker who threatens to reveal their most embarrassing secrets to the whole school. Moreover, everyone's avatar starts to behave strangely. Filled with more nosebleeds and eye-pokes, the boys of Class F must work together to discover the stalker's identity and deal with the misfortunes that come with love among fools. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Blood-C ブラッドシー [Production I.G] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Gore, School, Vampire Action, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural Peaceful schoolgirl by day, fearsome monster slayer by night, Saya Kisaragi is leading a split life. Equipped with a ceremonial sword given to her by her father for sacred tasks, she vanquishes every monster who dares threaten her quiet little village. But all too soon, Saya's reality and everything she believes to be true is tested, when she overhears the monsters speak of a broken covenant—something she knows nothing about. And then, unexpectedly, a strange dog appears; it asks her to whom she promised to protect the village, curious as to what would happen if she were to break that promise. Tormented by unexplainable visions and her world unraveling around her, we travel with Saya through her struggle to find a way to the truth in a village where nothing is as it seems. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Yuru Yuri YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily [Doga Kobo] (Finished 12/12) Tags: CGDCT, Gag Humor, School Award Winning, Comedy, Girls Love After a year in grade school without her childhood friends, first year student Akari Akaza is finally reunited with second years Yui Funami and Kyouko Toshinou at their all-girls' middle school. During the duo's first year, Yui and Kyouko formed the "Amusement Club" which occupies the now nonexistent Tea Club's room. Shortly after Akari joins, one of her fellow classmates, Chinatsu Yoshikawa, pays the trio a visit under the impression that they are the Tea Club; it is only once the three girls explain that the Tea Club has been disbanded that they can convince Chinatsu to join the Amusement Club—a group with no purpose other than to provide entertainment for its members. Based on the slice-of-life manga by Namori, Yuru Yuri is an eccentric comedy about a group of girls who spend their spare time drinking tea and fawning over each other, all while completely failing to even notice the supposed main character Akari amongst them. I slightly enjoy it as it's light and funny most of the time.   Overall Rating: 7/10   7. Mawaru Penguindrum Penguindrum 輪るピングドラム [Brain's Base] (Finished 4/24) Tags: Psychological Avant Garde, Comedy, Drama, Mystery For the Takakura family, destiny is an ever-spinning wheel, pointing passionately in their direction with equal tides of joy and sorrow before ticking on to the next wishmaker. With their parents gone, twin brothers Kanba and Shouma live alone with their beloved little sister Himari, whose poor health cannot decline any further. On the day Himari is given permission to temporarily leave the hospital, her brothers take her out to the aquarium to celebrate, where the family's supposed fate is brought forth with her sudden collapse. However, when Himari is inexplicably revived by a penguin hat from the aquarium's souvenir shop, the hand of fate continues to tick faithfully forward. With her miraculous recovery, though, comes a cost: there is a new entity within her body, whose condition for keeping her fate at bay sends the boys on a wild goose chase for the mysterious "Penguin Drum." In their search, the boys will have to follow the threads of fate leading from their own shocking past and into the lives of other wishmakers vying for the Penguin Drum, all hoping to land upon their chosen destiny. Some invisible penguins doing tricks, some girl cosplaying a powerful mage and some guys running after penguins getting constantly lost... and everything else is same crazy and nonsensical. Calling such anime psychological is an offence.   Overall Rating: 5/10   8. Natsume Yuujinchou San Natsume's Book of Friends Season 3 夏目友人帳 参 [Brain's Base] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Iyashikei, Mythology Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural Natsume Yuujinchou San follows Takashi Natsume, a boy who is able to see youkai. Natsume and his bodyguard Madara, nicknamed Nyanko-sensei, continue on their quest to release youkai from their contracts in the "Book of Friends." Natsume comes to terms with his ability to see youkai and stops thinking of it as a curse. As he spends more time with his human and youkai friends, he realizes how much he values them both and decides he doesn't have to choose between the spirit and human worlds to be happy. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Kamisama no Memochou Heaven's Memo Pad 神様のメモ帳 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Mystery Narumi Fujishima may seem like a normal high school student at first glance, but in reality he is a pessimistic outsider. Due to his father's work, he had to constantly transfer schools, and thus he has never managed to become a part of society. When he is forced to join the gardening club by his cheerful classmate Ayaka Shinozaki, Narumi encounters the genius hacker Alice, who lives in isolation above Hanamaru, the ramen shop where Ayaka works part-time. He then discovers that Alice is running a special private detective agency, and that all her professional associates refer to themselves as "NEET"s: Not in Education, Employment, or Training. Joining the NEET detective agency due to his personal connection with a criminal case, Narumi finds himself entangled in a world of dangerous investigations conducted by the ill-assorted group of detectives, all the while trying to track down the crime syndicate which seems to have mysterious ties to Alice. Characters are not bad, but it's all about detective mysteries that I can't stand.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan - Demon Capital ぬらりひょんの孫 千年魔京 [Studio Deen] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Shounen Mythology Action, Supernatural Long before Rikuo Nura was born, the legendary youkai Nurarihyon, leader of a "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons," fell in love with a human woman. Though the two would initially find happiness, a threat from the terrifying fox-demon Hagoromo Gitsune would get in the way of their relationship. In the present, Rikuo has taken his rightful place as the heir to the Nura Clan. While he has accepted his youkai side, he must continue to maintain the secret of youkai, a difficult task when faced with the Keikain onmyouji clan and his youkai-obsessed friend, Kiyotsugu. Even so, Rikuo will do what he must to protect those important to him. The reappearance of the sinister Hagoromo Gitsune marks the start of Rikuo's most fearsome trial yet. The frightening creature bears a personal vendetta against his family and will stop at nothing to see her dream come to fruition. The world stands at a precipice, an all-out war that will drag Rikuo centerstage. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. The iDOLM@STER アイドルマスター [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 1/25) Tags: Idols (Female), Music Comedy, Drama 765 Production Studio manages the unique talents of 13 professional idols as they slowly make their way to the top and become country-wide celebrities. But the girls' journey is far from just fun and games: hard work, sweat, and tears are some of the prerequisites needed to flourish in this industry—and for 765 Pro in particular, a watchful eye out for their rival, the infamous 961 Production. As the girls' fame grows, however, their time together as a family diminishes, and now the very popularity they sought is threatening to tear them apart. A difficult balance of work and bonding must be achieved, or they risk everyone going their separate ways. The personal and professional ordeals of these idols can not be conquered alone, but with each other's loving support, any obstacle or hardship can be overcome! Seeing this adopted from a game, there's no chance for anything even remotely deep. Most banal and typical idol SOL without anything to enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10   12. Dantalian no Shoka The Mystic Archives of Dantalian ダンタリアンの書架 [Gainax] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Detective, Historical Action, Mystery, Supernatural Six months ago, Lord Hugh Anthony Disward, also known as Huey, lost his eccentric grandfather, Sir Wesley Disward, who was a renowned collector of rare books. His grandfather's will states that, in order to inherit his manor and everything inside it, he must take guardianship over the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian—an archive that contains forbidden knowledge—and also take care of a mysterious girl called Dalian. As Huey settles into the manor, an old rival of his grandfather's arranges a meeting with him. Dalian, knowing the rival to be Wesley's killer, tags along and discovers that the murderer is in possession of a Phantom Book—a cursed tome that Wesley tried to seal away. When the book puts the two in danger, Huey discovers that the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian and Dalian are one and the same, and she entrusts Huey with the key to unlocking the knowledge stored within her. Together, Dalian and Huey seal the book away, and thus begins an unlikely partnership as they solve mysteries caused by other Phantom Books. Light novel source and Gainax studio were not enough for such concept. I remember dropping this detective mystery back then even though it was better than Gosick.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi  A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives いつか天魔の黒ウサギ [Zexcs] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Vampire Comedy, Romance, Supernatural, Ecchi  Taito has been really sleepy lately, and keeps dreaming of a female vampire who says she has given him her "poison." Sometimes he even thinks he hears her voice when he's awake. But after surviving an accident that should have killed him, Taito's world changes drastically and he realizes that his dreams are more real than he thought. We've seen binding of contract and we've even seen protagonist constantly dying and resurrecting couple times. Apart of fighting action there's only ecchi comedy, so nothing interesting of notice.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. R-15  [AIC] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Ecchi Harem, School  R-15 is about a boy, Taketo Akutagawa, who attends a school for geniuses: Inspiration Academy Private High School. Taketo is a genius novelist and writes erotica. Despite negative perceptions many people have of him, he aims to be at the top of his class and be recognized as the world's greatest writer. The cast is unusual, as everyone is a genius in some field, but story is quite boring. Since ecchi harems tend to be terrible, this one is at least watchable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Ro-Kyu-Bu! Ro-Kyu-Bu ~ Fast Break! ロウきゅーぶ! [Barnum Studio, Project No.9, Studio Blanc.] (Finished 1/12) Tags: School Comedy, Sports, Ecchi  Subaru Hasegawa has the ambition to become one of the best basketball superstars of all time. However, this comes to an apparent halt when his school's basketball team ceases activities for a year. Shocked by the news, he decides not to involve himself in basketball anymore. One day, his aunt Mihoshi Takamura invites him to coach the Keishin Academy girls’ basketball team on how to play the sport, and he reluctantly agrees. He meets sixth-graders Tomoka Minato, Maho Misawa, Airi Kashii, Hinata Hakamada and Saki Nagatsuki, and begins training them in the sport with one goal: to defeat all strong opponents along the way. Ro-Kyu-Bu! follows the effort of five elementary girls and their coach as they improve their cute style of playing basketball. Since it's a cute spokon, I will cutely drop it.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Sacred Seven セイクリッドセブン [Sunrise] (Finished 2/12) Tags: School, Super Power Action, Sci-Fi  Alma Tandoji lives a lonely life. One day, Ruri Alba, a girl accompanied by her butler and maids, visits him. Knowing the power of Sacred Seven is latent within Alma, she asks him to lend her his powers. However, he refuses and drives her away since he injured many with his unusual strength in the past. Meanwhile, a fiendish Dark Stone creature suddenly appears in this peaceful town in the Kanto region. Only Alma's power of Sacred Seven can fight against it. But Alma just lets his power run amuck and things begin to get worse. Ruri raised her gemstone in order to release his true abilities, My Soul I give to you. With Ruri's wishes engraved in it, will Alma be able to defeat the Dark Stone? Overpowered protagonist fights and gathers seven stones... yay. It's better than it sounds due to cast and interaction, but overall feels boring.   Overall Rating: 6/10   17. Manyuu Hikenchou Magic Breast Secret Sword Scroll 魔乳秘剣帖 [Hoods Entertainment] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Historical, Samurai Action, Comedy, Ecchi The Edo period of Japan gave rise to a clan of warriors with a very specialized, magical skill. The clan was known as the Manyuu, and the skill was the ability to administer a sword strike that could shrink the size of a woman's breasts. This might not seem like an ability that could exert power over a land, but in Manyuu Hikenchou, large breasts denote status, wealth, fame, and influence. Grave concern has arisen in the Manyuu clan due to the actions of their chosen successor, Chifusa. Disgusted with the breast obsessed society that the Manyuu have created and perpetuated, Chifusa has not only deserted the clan, but also stolen the sacred scroll that details their techniques to growing and severing breasts. Fortunately, Chifusa is not completely alone. Her fellow warrior Kaede is sympathetic to her cause; a sympathy that could place her in considerable danger. Now wanted by the very clan that raised her, Chifusa must defend her life and Kaede's while seeking to undo the damage their brethren have done to the land. Along the way, Chifusa will discover that she harbors a power that goes far beyond the scope of her training, one that could help shape and change the land that she seeks to bring equality to. Booby fetish action, so very ridiculous, and probably need a special mood to watch.   Overall Rating: 5/10   18. Kamisama Dolls 神様ドォルズ [Brain's Base] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Seinen Action, Supernatural Kyouhei, after moving away to Tokyo from his old town to get away from the events that happened, is on a goukon with his friends, including his old neighbor, Shiba. After drinking for a whole night, he and Shiba discover a dead, bloody body in the elevator. He is told by his younger sister, Utao with her Kamisama Doll, that Aki, an old friend, and his Doll are the culprits responsible. It's a mix of many genres, actually. There's not much of the story, so SOL harem fillers take most of the time and it gets boring really fast.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth The Animation 異国迷路のクロワーゼ The Animation [Satelight] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Seinen Historical, Iyashikei Slice of Life In 19th century Paris, Claude Claudel and his grandfather Oscar run a metalworking shop tucked away in the Galerie du Roy shopping arcade. Back home from his recent travels, Oscar appears with a young Japanese girl—Yune—by his side. Although he is initially against it, Claude comes to accept Oscar's announcement that Yune will live and work with them going forward. Bewildered by Yune's foreign customs, Claude must balance looking after her and managing the shop. But over time, as she settles into her new role as a live-in maid, Claude slowly shows interest in learning to understand Yune and the vastly different world she comes from. Historical SOL always looked tedious to me. There's not enough drama here, and just architecture and clumsy culture blend can't really motivate.   Overall Rating: 6/10   20. Blade ブレイド [Madhouse] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Vampire Action, Drama, Horror The story revolves around Blade, a "Daywalker" vampire hunter who was born with vampire and human blood after a vampire attacked his mother. While visiting Japan on a mission, Blade tracks down Deacon Frost, the vampire who killed his mother. Blade confronts "Existence," a mysterious organization composed of vampires modified by Frost. Movie was very straightforward, but at least short. This one is not short...   Overall Rating: 5/10   21. Nekogami Yaoyorozu The Everyday Tales of a Cat God 猫神やおよろず [AIC PLUS+] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen CGDCT Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural  Koyama Yuzu is running an antique shop. Mayu, a cat god (nekogami), is living off Yuzu and leads an idle life playing games. Lots of other gods visit Mayu and enjoy merrymaking. Silly, random and occasionally fun SOL about animal gods slacking. Should be ok for relaxing, but nothing conceptual or serious awaits here.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel: Kyunkyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!! Twin Angel: Twinkle Paradise 快盗天使ツインエンジェル 〜キュンキュン☆ときめきパラダイス!!〜 [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/12) Tags: School Haruka Minazuki and Aoi Kannazuki are two students at St. Cherine academy. Haruka is always filled with bubbly energy while Aoi is more mature and a top student in all her classes - but despite their differences the two are the best of friends. The two girls look like any other girls, attending the academy, but the truth is they are hiding a little secret, that they can't let anybody know about... During the day they really are just students at St. Cherine academy, but they can also become the Twin Angel duo, and fight against the evils of the town! The lovely Angels are back, and it's time for them to get ready for some action! Adapted from the game and after horrible OVA there there were zero chanced for anything decent.   Overall Rating: 5/10   23. Hotarubi no Mori e Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light 蛍火の杜へ [Brain's Base] (Finished 1/1) Tags: School Comedy, Romance Hasegawa Kodaka has transferred schools, and he's having a hard time making friends. It doesn't help that his blond hair tends to make people think he's a delinquent. One day, he runs into his bad-tempered solitary classmate Yozora while she's talking animatedly to her imaginary friend Tomo. Realizing that neither of them have any actual friends, they decide that the best way to alter this situation is to form a club and start recruiting. That is how "Rinjinbu", The Neighbours' Club, was formed, a club specifically designed for people who don't have very many friends. As other lonely classmates slowly join their little club, they'll try to learn how to build friendships through cooking together, playing games, and other group activities. But will this group of relationship-challenged misfits really be able to get along? Shoujo friendship with an enchanted spirit story is too simple to make a stand.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Coquelicot-zaka kara From Up on Poppy Hill コクリコ坂から [Studio Ghibli] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Shoujo Historical, School Award Winning, Romance Atop a hill overlooking a seaside port sits a boarding house named Coquelicot Manor. Since the building is run by her family, Umi Matsuzaki carries out many of the duties involved in managing the small establishment, such as preparing meals for her fellow boarders. When she isn't at home, she is a student at the local high school—one that is currently dealing with a small crisis. In anticipation of the upcoming Olympic Games, a beloved old clubhouse is set to be demolished to make way for a modern building. As a result, a large part of the student body has banded together, working tirelessly to prevent this from happening. Umi finds herself helping the newspaper club to spread information about this cause where she befriends Shun Kazama, whom she gradually begins to fall in love with. But Shun is an orphan who doesn't know much about his origins, and when the two begin searching for clues to the boy's past, they discover that they may have a lot more in common than either of them could have thought. Dominating feeling is cringe. Reused male and female protagonists, obligatory exposition and SOL, one-sided characters, constant attempt to appear more busy than they are, and of course absolutely conservative primitive view on gender roles (which is understandable since manga belongs to 70s). I only feel anger for wasted time and sorrow for wasted efforts of so many creators.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion マルドゥック・スクランブル 燃焼 [GoHands] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Action, Sci-Fi Rune Balot is weeping and trying to save both herself and a severely injured Oeufcoque from Shell's assassin Boiled. Luckily for her, Doctor Easter finally shows up in the Humpty Dumpty – a special militarized vehicle made for protecting those in Welfare cases if their lives are threatened. From there they go to Paradise, where the Scramble 09 technology (and Boiled's rebirth) was developed. All of the secrets of the past of Mardock City (and possibly its future) are revealed in this riveting second part of the Mardock Scramble series, upping the stakes and making Balot choose between justice for herself or peace within Paradise instead. It's hardly even a movie, just two separate small parts - defending from an assault and then trying to cheat casino. And thus it feels disintegrated and like a filler. And casino part is not even over, so more of this boredom awaits...   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Midori-ko 緑子 [Mistral Japan] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Avant Garde, Drama  One of the must-see gems making its premiere at our festival, Midori-Ko is adored Japanese animator Kurosaka Keita's whimsically nightmarish vision of 21st-century Tokyo on the brink of apocalypse. Ten years in the making and entirely, single-handedly rendered in colored pencil, Kurosaka's fantastical labor of love is a marvel to behold. Emerging from the staggering detail and craft flooding every frame is the story of a young woman who sets out to engineer a dream-food that can put an end to the world's famine. Synthesizing Frederic Back's subtle, haptic textures with Bill Plympton's frenetic mutations and David Lynch's haunting wormholes, Kurosaka’s work still retains its own singular, luminous potency. I tend to dislike Avant Garde and absurd. And here a lot of items get human faces and start moving, so protagonist girl is constantly scared and running away... very stupid, as for me, Plus most humans encountered are crazy as all they do is laugh and do tricks. Super disgusting overall and without any ending, so not even conceptual.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. Waza no Tabibito 技の旅人 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy  Humans acquired a perfect source of energy called "Patia", which brought self-sufficiency in food and fuel to all the people in the world. Trade and transportation began to diminish and finally the advance of the civilization terminated. Now the genetically modified plants cover almost all of the lands on earth and obstruct travelers. Cient, the leader of a fortress city, sets out on a trip to excavate the lost technology "Patia" with his daughter Ruri. When Ruri gets separated from her father, a giant humanoid weapon of the old age attacks her. Ruri is saved by a girl named Tekuni who is traveling around the world training as a "Wazabito" fighter. CG is always a minus. Simple mahou shoujo fighter story in CG with weird CG pantsu shots is even worse. Oh, and protagonist is breast physics here as it's featured in every scene.    Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Hong Gil Dong 2084 홍길동 2084 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Adventure  In 2084, a brave young boy named Hong Gil-dong (Dong Ho of boy band U-KISS) accidentally helps save a beautiful woman warrior. He hears that other residents of Yul-do have been harassed by a crew led by his older brother Il-dong, who had abandoned Gil-dong when they were young. He decides to step up and face the evil clan. Not translated. CGI. Weird designs. Asian style martial arts. And not even remotely interesting story.   Overall Rating: 5/10   29. Min de 1911 民的1911 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Drama Historical, Military - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10   30. Hellsing: The Dawn  [Graphinica] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Gore, Vampire Action, Horror, Supernatural During the height of World War II, Nazi Germany seeks to strengthen their soldiers with technology crafted under the influence of vampiric biology. Out of fear of this technology turning the tide of war in the Axis's favor, Sir Arthur Hellsing enlists his butler and soldier Walter C. Dornez and vampire Alucard to put a stop to the German plot, sending the two men into a conflict that will scar them both forever. It's under 30 minutes, mostly black and white , with WWII involvement and not interesting in any way.   Overall Rating: 5/10
  24. kivandopulus
    I was even ready to rate Bakuman. 2nd Season lower if there was at least some other firm masterpiece in my opinion, but, alas. Another borderline masterpiece that I enjoy is Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai . Decided to finally drop all those childish Digimons and Battle Spirits and the like as I don't like their openings anyway.   1. Hunter x Hunter (2011) HUNTER×HUNTER（ハンター×ハンター）  [Madhouse] (Finished 1/148) Tags: Shounen Action, Adventure, Fantasy Hunters devote themselves to accomplishing hazardous tasks, all from traversing the world's uncharted territories to locating rare items and monsters. Before becoming a Hunter, one must pass the Hunter Examination—a high-risk selection process in which most applicants end up handicapped or worse, deceased. Ambitious participants who challenge the notorious exam carry their own reason. What drives 12-year-old Gon Freecss is finding Ging, his father and a Hunter himself. Believing that he will meet his father by becoming a Hunter, Gon takes the first step to walk the same path. During the Hunter Examination, Gon befriends the medical student Leorio Paladiknight, the vindictive Kurapika, and ex-assassin Killua Zoldyck. While their motives vastly differ from each other, they band together for a common goal and begin to venture into a perilous world. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. Mirai Nikki (TV) The Future Diary 未来日記 [asread.] (Finished 3/26) Tags: Shounen Gore, High Stakes Game, Psychological, Survival Action, Supernatural, Suspense Yukiteru Amano is a shy middle schooler who regularly keeps track of what he does in his daily life by writing down all of his activities on his phone—a digital diary. Despite having no friends at school, Yukiteru is frequently seen talking to his supposedly imaginary friends Deus Ex Machina, the god of time and space; and Deus' servant, Mur Mur. One day, Yukiteru wakes up and discovers that certain events of his day are preemptively displayed on his cellphone. While initially dismissing it as a coincidence, he slowly realizes that the incidents written in his phone actually take place in the near future. After spending the day benefiting from this new asset, Yukiteru learns that his classmate Yuno Gasai possesses a similar diary. As the two team up to defeat an odd pursuer and head back to their respective homes, Deus Ex Machina explains that they—alongside 10 other contestants—have been drawn into a survival game whose victor will become the deity's successor. With no other options, Yukiteru and Yuno must use their cellphones—now called "Future Diaries"—to survive this unforgiving battle royale. Why does it have to cry DEATH NOTE so much... And since concept with future diary phones is so vague, it inevitably becomes full of loopholes. Generally I like battle royale, but with clear rules, not  these pseudo detective suspense mysteries and reinventing rules as plot directs. I believe it still can be enjoyed, but not by me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Fate/Zero フェイト/ゼロ [ufotable] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural With the promise of granting any wish, the omnipotent Holy Grail triggered three wars in the past, each too cruel and fierce to leave a victor. In spite of that, the wealthy Einzbern family is confident that the Fourth Holy Grail War will be different; namely, with a vessel of the Holy Grail now in their grasp. Solely for this reason, the much hated "Magus Killer" Kiritsugu Emiya is hired by the Einzberns, with marriage to their only daughter Irisviel as binding contract. Kiritsugu now stands at the center of a cutthroat game of survival, facing off against six other participants, each armed with an ancient familiar, and fueled by unique desires and ideals. Accompanied by his own familiar, Saber, the notorious mercenary soon finds his greatest opponent in Kirei Kotomine, a priest who seeks salvation from the emptiness within himself in pursuit of Kiritsugu. Based on the light novel written by Gen Urobuchi, Fate/Zero depicts the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War—10 years prior to Fate/stay night. Witness a battle royale in which no one is guaranteed to survive. Sequel. Tried to watch it several times, but I seriously dislike Urobuchi Gen and hate serialization of finished stories and squeezing more profits and especially prequels. It's no fun at all for the second time. To get frozen in time just because franchise sells is impotent and opposite of talent. Only boredom and disgust remain.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Guilty Crown ギルティクラウン [Production I.G] (Finished 4/22) Tags: Mecha, Romantic Subtext, Super Power Action, Drama, Sci-Fi On December 24, 2029—the day colloquially known as the "Lost Christmas"—the Apocalypse Virus spread across Japan, bringing death to its citizens and plunging the country into utter chaos. In an effort to establish order, the United Nations sends the GHQ to assist with the crisis by containing the outbreak while removing all political autonomy in the process. A decade later, the country still lives under their control, unable to break free from their draconian rule. Frustrated with the state of the nation, a resistance group named the Funeral Parlor aims to liberate Japan from the GHQ. Led by the charismatic Gai Tsutsugami, the group plots to steal a vial containing the "Void Genome" to further their goals. The vial falls into the hands of internet vocalist Inori Yuzuriha, who ends up being hunted by the GHQ's Anti-Bodies forces. Having nowhere to go, she seeks refuge in a warehouse where she meets Shuu Ouma—a socially awkward high school student who is a huge fan of her music. Shuu gets dragged into the conflict the moment he rescues Inori, and the Void Genome shatters in his hand, granting him the "Power of the Kings." While learning how to control his grand new ability, Shuu must now fight to liberate Japan from its cruel oppressors. Tried it a lot of times, and it's such a slow paced tasteless mess that I inevitably fall asleep or get distracted in other way. And I see a lot of parallels with Leloush which makes it even worse.   Overall Rating: 5/10   5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Haganai: I don't have many friends 僕は友達が少ない [AIC Build] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Harem, School Comedy, Romance, Ecchi When Kodaka Hasegawa finds out that he will be transferring to a new school, he is determined to make a positive impression, and maybe even some friends. However, Kodaka discovers he is out of luck when he immediately gets labeled as a violent delinquent due to his blond hair and intimidating expression. Although a month has passed, Kodaka is still alone thanks to his notorious reputation. However, his life begins to change when he finds fellow loner Yozora Mikazuki talking to her imaginary friend in an empty classroom. After sharing stories of their lonely high school life, Kodaka and Yozora decide to overcome the difficulties of making friends together by starting the Neighbor's Club. Created for people who don't have friends, daily activities involve learning social skills and how to fit in, which will hopefully allow them to make friends. Joined by the eroge-loving Sena Kashiwazaki, and other eccentric outcasts, Kodaka may finally have managed to find people he can call friends, in this club filled with hilarious oddballs. For some reason it reminds me of OreImo. I enjoy it quite a lot despite the fact that it does not stand out much. Interaction and otaku context are great, though.   Overall Rating: 7/10   6. Chihayafuru ちはやふる [Madhouse] (Finished 2/25) Tags: Josei Love Polygon, School, Strategy Game Drama, Sports As a child, Chihaya Ayase had only one dream: to see her elder sister Chitose become Japan's most successful model. However, upon defending her ostracised classmate Arata Wataya from his bully—Chihaya's childhood friend Taichi Mashima—she discovers the world of competitive karuta and soon becomes enamoured with the sport. Based on the Ogura Hundred Poets anthology, this card game where poems are studied requires excellent memory, agility, and a tremendous endurance from the players. Full of hope, Chihaya joins the Shiranami Society together with the newly reconciled Arata and Taichi, embarking on an exciting journey for the title awarded to the top-ranked female player—Queen of Karuta. Since middle school, Chihaya grew distant from a dispassionate Taichi and separated from Arata. However, in order to improve her skills, Chihaya decides to create a karuta club in her high school. With the help of Taichi, another veteran player, and a few spirited newcomers, Chihaya's new-founded Mizusawa Karuta Club aims for victory in the Omi Shrine's national championship. Sure I tried to watch it before, and it's still more card game than anything else.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Bakuman. 2nd Season バクマン。2ndシーズン [J.C.Staff] (Finished 25/25) Tags: Shounen Otaku Culture Comedy, Drama, Romance With the serialization of their new manga, "Detective Trap," the writer-artist team, Akito Takagi and Moritaka Mashiro, better known by their pseudonym Muto Ashirogi, are one step closer to becoming world-renowned mangaka. For Mashiro, however, serialization is just the first step. Having promised to marry his childhood sweetheart and aspiring voice actress, Azuki Miho, once his manga gets an anime adaptation, Mashiro must continue his to popularize Ashirogi's work. A tremendously competitive cast of ambitious mangaka—including the wild genius, Eiji Niizuma; the elegant student, Yuriko Aoki, and her older admirer and partner, Takurou Nakai; the lazy prodigy, Kazuya Hiramaru; and the abrasive artist, Shinta Fukuda—both support and compete against Muto Ashirogi in creating the next big hit. As they adjust to their young and seemingly untested new editor, the dynamic duo struggle to maintain their current serialization, secure the top spot in Shounen Jack, and ultimately, achieve an anime adaptation of their manga. With new rivals and friends, Bakuman. 2nd Season continues Takagi and Mashiro's inspiring story of hard work and young love. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 9/10   8. Ben-To ベン・トー [David Production] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Martial Arts Action, Comedy, Gourmet  The supermarket is an important building in any city, for they provide a convenient way to purchase a variety of food in a family-friendly, safe environment. However, these stores changes in the blink of an eye once the unsold bento boxes go on their nightly half-off sales! War breaks out and friends become foes as each person fights for honor, pride, and dinner. There are no longer any people in these supermarkets, only Wolves and Dogs⁠—winners and losers. High schooler You Satou is painfully introduced to these battles after unknowingly stumbling into the war zone, but instead of choosing to avoid these nightly fights, he wants to join in. After seeing Satou's lack of fighting skills, upperclassman and Wolf Sen Yarizui invites him and Hana Oshiroi, a girl who enjoys spectating the brawls, to join her Half-Priced Food Lovers Club to show them the distinction between the Dogs and the Wolves. Together, they learn what it truly means to fight for your food. Absurd silly action that I could not stand back then and that only tires me now.   Overall Rating: 5/10   9. Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! 真剣で私に恋しなさい！ [Lerche] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem, Martial Arts, School, Super Power Comedy, Romance, Ecchi The samurai are a very important part of Japan's history, and to be related to them in any way is probably one of the most inspiring things that a young high school student could hope for. Kawakami City is well-known for having many samurai ancestors among its citizens, and is generally surrounded by an atmosphere of fighting spirit, loyalty, and dedication to work. In Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!, the students of Kawakami Academy use this knowledge on a daily basis, whether they are studying for exams, competing in sports competitions, or making sure that they take very good care of their traditions. Yamato Naoe is one such student, and his six closest friends (three boys and three girls) make up the perfect team for friendship, rivalry, and motivation. However, even samurai have weaknesses. Although the balance and long friendship of their group has been undisturbed for a long time, when two new girls enter the group, things start to get a lot more interesting. Not only must they maintain what they think is the samurai tradition, but they must now also do it with a lot of "distractions." Never could understand MajiKoi. It's exactly the case that I call chaotic silly mess. Now with repeating unfunny jokes.   Overall Rating: 5/10   10. Maken-Ki! マケン姫っ！ [AIC Spirits] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Shounen Harem, Martial Arts, School, Super Power Action, Ecchi Based on the manga series by Hiromitsu Takeda, this romantic comedy is about Takeru Ohyama, a typical perverted teenage boy. His new school doesn't require entrance exams, and it just turned co-ed! Unfortunately, his dreams of a happy high school life are dashed when he finds out the school is much more than it seems. All of the students wield a special item—a Maken—to unleash their magical abilities in duels! Can Takeru find a Maken that works for him? Even while trying to fit in at a new school and dealing with all kinds of girl problems? Ecchi harem school SOL with a bit of magical duels flavor. I don't see more than one big or super big advantage.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Working'!! Wagnaria!!2 [A-1 Pictures] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Seinen Romantic Subtext, Workplace Comedy The exciting antics of Wagnaria return as more ridiculous incidents occur, friendships are deepened, and new feelings are discovered. In addition to Souta Takanashi and his wacky co-workers, more eccentric personalities join the family restaurant: Haruna, Hyougo Otoo's missing wife, who has a habit of getting hopelessly lost through the sewer system; Kirio Yamada, Aoi's older brother, who is able to withstand Mahiru Inami's deadly punches; and twins Youhei and Mitsuki Mashiba, Kyouko Shirafuji's juniors who do not get along. Absurdity, romance, and hilarity are all on the menu for the Wagnaria family restaurant! Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Persona 4 the Animation ペルソナ4アニメーション [AIC ASTA] (Finished 1/25) Tags: School, Super Power Action, Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural Serial murders have recently plagued Inaba, with the police struggling to find any leads. Despite this, due to his parents going abroad for work, Yuu Narukami moves to the small town to live with his uncle for a year. He enrolls at Yasogami High School, where he meets and befriends Yousuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, and Yukiko Amagi. While hanging out together after school, the group fills Yuu in on the urban legend known as the "Midnight Channel"—a mysterious TV channel that only appears at midnight on rainy days while the viewer is alone. Curious about the claim, Yuu decides to tune in that night, only to see the next victim of the serial murders appear on the screen instead. He also finds himself being drawn into the TV, which intrigues his newfound friends enough to want to investigate. Yuu ends up falling into the world within the TV, which is blanketed by a thick fog and swarming with hostile creatures known as "Shadows." Realizing that this world is somehow connected to the murders, the Investigation Team forms with the goal of uncovering the mystery behind the incidents. Tried to play Persona 4, but inevitably dropped and just watched walkthrough instead. I expected at least something serious, not getting engulfed in TV and fighting monsters just in order to save new ally each time or gaining something else from boss defeat. It's artificial, grindy and approval-centric with very weird pseudo-detective main story. Anime seems to follow game closely for first episode, and many disadvantages are going to be gone in animation, but story is too childish for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Shakugan no Shana III (Final) Shakugan no Shana: Season III 灼眼のシャナIII –Final– [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/24) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, School Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Yuji disappeared the fateful night he was supposed to choose between a life combating evil by Shana's side or as a normal teenager. He returns from near-death to lead the Crimson Denizens in a dubious plot to bring peace to the universe, but Shana isn't fooled. In an explosive reunion, the fiery warrior faces her unlikeliest of foes while Flame Hazes from across the world join forces to ignite a war that will determine the fate of all supernatural kind. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Kimi to Boku. You and Me.  [J.C.Staff] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Shounen Iyashikei, School Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life Four childhood friends are in their second year at Homare High School: kind and cheerful Shun Matsuoka, hot-tempered Kaname Tsukahara, and the Asaba twins, gentle Yuuta and lazy Yuuki. When a dynamic transfer student, Chizuru Tachibana, joins their group, the friends get caught up in his creative yet troublesome ideas that end up bringing excitement to their everyday lives. With new encounters and experiences, they begin to learn more about each other and themselves. Dropped this men friendship story before, because it was pretty boring. It's difficult to make such story interesting, but it looks like writer did not even try to begin with - there will be some audience anyway. So we're in for dull boys, horrible kindergarten recollections, nonsense SOL talk and occasional romance for each one as there's nothing to do here anyway. I just wonder what to enjoy here.   Overall Rating: 5/10   15. Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere 境界線上のホライゾン [Sunrise] (Finished 3/13) Tags: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi  In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space. However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan. To accommodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave. It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begin to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648. Taking advantage of this situation, Toori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland. I welcome usage of light novels, because result gets more detailed. But this time source is rather weird as it's mashup of religion, fantasy, sci-fi in a super confusing and clearly ridiculous plot without even  definite protagonist. It feels like trying to make sense out of kid's scribbles who made everything cool here and BAM there.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. C³ C³ - CubexCursedxCurious [SILVER LINK.] (Finished 3/12) Tags: School Action, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi From the light novel series written by Minase Hazuki, comes a story of love, action, and comedy. Yachi Haruaki is a high school boy who is naturally resistant to curses. After his father sends him a mysterious black cube, Haruaki awakes to find a nude girl named Fear standing in his kitchen. She’s the human form of the cursed black cube – and an instrument of torture! Utilizing her special abilities, Fear fights alongside Haruaki to defeat other cursed instruments and their owners. Ecchi school comedy with heroine just appearing in the protagonist's flat and occasionally fighting others with similar powers is as beaten concept as it can be. Curses flavor is enough to qualify against plagiarism, but not enough to make a real change.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers Mashiroiro Symphony: The Color of Lovers ましろ色シンフォニー -The color of lovers- [Manglobe] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Harem, School Drama, Romance When boys suddenly get into places where they've never been allowed before, some girls tend to get upset. So when the decision is made to merge the elite Yuihime Girls' Private Academy and the coeducational Kagamidai Private Academy, everyone wants to take extra care in avoiding trouble while bringing the two Privates together. Therefore, rather than just bringing the Kagamidai boys into the Yuihime girls' school all at once, a plan is concocted in which a group of test males will be inserted into the Girls' Private Academy first. Thus, poor young Shingo finds himself being thrown as a sacrificial lamb to the lionesses of Yuihime, who aren't exactly waiting for him with open arms. Will Shingo manage to survive the estrogen soaked death pit that is Yuihime? Can the girls learn to be more receptive to the boys? And just how long until something involving panties will cause emotions to flare, sparks to fly and the battle of the sexes to explode? VN was pretty average with graphics as distinguishing feature. In anime version it's difficult to stand out in graphics. In the end, it's just a cute harem with structure taking a huge dent for being adapted  from visual novel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Un-Go UN-GO アン ゴ [Bones] (Finished 1/11) Tags: Adult Cast, Detective Mystery, Sci-Fi, Supernatural In a dystopian future, detective Shinjuurou Yuuki—known by some as the "Defeated Detective"—solves mysteries throughout Tokyo. Aided by his odd associate Inga, Shinjuurou's insight and ingenuity in cracking cases, particularly homicides, lead to numerous mysteries solved and culprits caught. However, his partner seems to have some other, more sinister intentions for the people they catch, and the truth of the assistant's identity and motivation is shrouded in secrecy. This is mainly a detective mystery, so just nor for me.   Overall Rating: 6/10   19. Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle ファイ・ブレイン 神のパズル  [Sunrise] (Finished 1/25) Tags: High Stakes Game, Strategy Game Action, Mystery Kaito Daimon would be a completely average high school student except for one thing: he's a "demon" at solving puzzles. Kaito is so brilliant, in fact, that when he's asked to take some 'special' tests of his unique ability, he immediately suspects that the test itself is a test. Kaito suddenly finds himself caught up in a lethal Philosopher's Puzzle made by the sinister group POG, a murderous maze of trap upon trap, where failing to solve the secret correctly will result in death! Fortunately, Kaito's skills prove up to the first test, both for himself and his childhood friend Nanoha, who is also caught up in the deadly scheme. But now that he has been designated as a Solver, he is pulled into a new life where he must travel the world with other Solvers, attempting to solve the latest deadly riddles left by POG. There's a new conundrum around every corner and each deception could lead to death, but once a riddle has been posed, you can count on Kaito to unfold, unravel and unlock it! I tend to dislike puzzles even more than mysteries, so whenever I meet obligatory puzzles in games I usually sulk. For me it's a shallow concept that I can't enjoy in any way even if paired with battle royale or something. Kaiji is a lot better.   Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Shinryaku!? Ika Musume The Squid Girl 2 侵略!?イカ娘 [Diomedéa] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Shounen Anthropomorphic Comedy After regaining her squid-like abilities, Ika Musume plans to resume her self-appointed mission to destroy all of humanity. However, her carefree job as a waitress in the Lemon beach house meant she cannot help but laze around during her spare time! On top of that, she is saddled with many problems, such as being pursued by a group of alien-obsessed individuals and catching the interest of a crazy girl. Picking up after the conclusion of the first season, Shinryaku!? Ika Musume follows the hilarious life of Ika Musume as she plots her next invasion of the surface world. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Tamayura: Hitotose たまゆら～hitotose～ [TYO Animations] (Finished 12/12) Tags: CGDCT, Iyashikei Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life In her last year of middle school, Fuu Sawatari had trouble dealing with her emotions following the sudden death of her father. Through the help of her brother and childhood friend, she rediscovered her love for photography, an activity she and her father often did together. In addition, she decided to attend high school in Takehara, her father's hometown and a place they often visited when she was younger. It has been one month now since Fuu moved to Takehara and became close with her current group of friends: carefree Kaoru Hanawa, excitable Norie Okazaki, and quiet Maon Sakurada. Together with them and several acquaintances around town and abroad, Fuu continues her mission of capturing the joys of everyday life using her father's camera, while also helping her friends discover their own passions. Sequel. I remember watching both OVA and series, and they all were useless and unmemorable afterwards.   Overall Rating: 6/10   22. Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing ラストエグザイル-銀翼のファム- [Gonzo] (Finished 1/21) Tags: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi  "I've made up my mind! I'm going to steal that ship!" All source of life originates from the Grand Lake. At this very sacred lake, the battle between the Ades Federation and the Turan Kingdom has just begun. The Ades Federation, armed with massive battleships and its sights set on conquering the world, declares war on the Turan Kingdom. With the Federation's troops encroaching on their beloved country, Turan now lies on the brink of collapse. As this is happening, the princesses of Turan look on as a small vanship named Vespa cruises above their heads. "We shall now commandeer your flagship and take her from this battlefield. The choice is yours. Die here, or survive with us Sky Pirates!" The Vespa continues to weave through the barrage of bombs, while the fleets of the Federation close in on Turan. What are the motives of Luscinia, the man leading the Ades Federation into the war? And what is the secret behind "Exile"? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Kidou Senshi Gundam AGE Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 機動戦士ガンダムAGE [Sunrise] (Finished 1/49) Tags: Mecha, Space Action, Sci-Fi In A.G. 101 (the 101st year of the Advanced Generation calendar) a mysterious entity known only as "UE", or "unknown enemy", attacks and destroys the space colony Angel. This brutal attack becomes infamous as the "The Day the Angel Fell", and marks the beginning of humanity's war for survival. The series begins in A.G. 108 when the UE attack the space colony Ovan, where Flit Asuno lives with his mother. Flit's mother is killed by the UE, and in her belongings (in an object called a "AGE Device") he discovers the blueprints for a powerful weapon from the past - the ancient messiah named "Gundam." From these blueprints, Flit spends the next several years studying engineering at an Earth Federation base on the Nora space colony and designing the AGE-1 Gundam. Seven years later, in A.G. 115, Flit completes the Gundam, just as the UE attack Nora. Flit and his lineage's battle piloting the AGE-1 to protect mankind is about to begin. Gundam and shounen just don't fit together, feels like some digimon with mecha instead of summons. I get it that older generations are going to be involved at some point, but I hate first episode too much to go on.   Overall Rating: 5/10   24. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki The Animation Legend of the Heroes: Trails in the Sky 英雄伝説 空の軌跡 THE ANIMATION [Kinema Citrus] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Ten years ago, a massive invasion by the Erebonian Empire almost shattered the Kingdom of Liberl, piercing to the heart of Capital City before being driven back by a determined counteroffensive led by Cassius Bright. Now, as the invaders pace behind the northern borders, coveting the small kingdom's magic and high technology, Liberl slowly rebuilds with the aid of the Bracer's Guild, whose mystical use of "Craft" is even more intrinsic to the nation's defense than its own army. For young Estelle Bright, daughter of Cassius, this is all just ancient history that she and her adopted brother Joshua learned as kids. But history has a way of repeating itself, and as they prepare to join the Bracers Guild themselves, sinister forces are preparing to thrust them into the familiar family situation of being in the worst possible place when mayhem breaks out. Because when their father's airship goes suddenly missing, of course it only makes sense to two green, but extraordinarily capable, young teenagers to strike out on a rescue mission of their own! Can't say I'm super fan or something, but watched or played every single game in Legend franchise, so I'm thrilled to learn that there is also anime. I find the choice for anime weird as it starts from between the games of Trails. New viewers are probably going to be overwhelmed by the number of characters. Fans who played the second Trails game already know the contents. Anyway, no matter how biased I am, can't call it a masterpiece.   Overall Rating: 6/10   25. K-On! Movie K-ON! The Movie 映画 けいおん！ [Kyoto Animation] (Finished 1/1) Tags: CGDCT, Music Award Winning, Comedy Graduation looms for the founding members of the Light Music Club. With only a few precious weeks of school left, the girls decide to make the most of it and plan a trip abroad. Hawaii, New York, Dubai—many destinations are suggested, but after a little help from the club's precious pet turtle, Ton-chan, London is chosen as the host of their next misadventure! Yui Hirasawa, Mio Akiyama, Tsumugi Kotobuki, Ritsu Tainaka, and Azusa Nakano will visit famous landmarks, perform live music for Londoners, and eat all sorts of delicious food, all while stumbling clumsily from place to place. But the fun won't last forever, as heartfelt songs and goodbyes will be made as their high school days together come to a close. One thing is for certain though: the undeniable friendships these girls have formed is something that will carry on long after the final scene rolls. Probably missed the movie, so nice to catch up. Finally a cheerful graduation story without usual bs drama.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku The Princess and the Pilot とある飛空士への追憶 [Madhouse] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Adventure, Romance The war between the Levamme Empire and the Amatsukami Imperium has been raging for years. In the midst of this struggle, the prince of the Levamme Empire declares his love for Juana del Moral and vows to end the war in one year, as part of his marriage proposal. When the Amatsukami catch wind of this, they assault the del Moral residence, targeting Juana's life. As a last ditch effort to bring the prince his bride, the San Maltilia Airforce hires a mercenary of mixed blood—a bestado—to fly Juana to the Levamme capital in secret. The pilot, Charles, accepts the mission...but traversing an ocean alone, into enemy territory, proves a much more dangerous ordeal than anyone could have anticipated. Another reinvention of Romeo and Julliet. Hardly of any interest at all.   Overall Rating: 6/10   27. Gyo GYO: Tokyo Fish Attack! ギョ [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Horror  Though her trip to Okinawa was supposed to be a lovely excursion to the seaside, college student Kaori Sawahara finds that it is anything but when a horrifying menace emerges from the watery depths. A strange mechanism has taken control of the sea creatures, granting them legs and sending them on land to attack anything in their way. Kaori and her friends—the lustful Erika and the reserved Aki—find themselves caught up in this onslaught, made worse by the creatures' rotting stench of death. Surviving the first assault, Kaori tries to contact her fiancé Tadashi in Tokyo. However, the call is cut short in what sounds like another fish attack. Fearing for his safety, Kaori leaves for Tokyo. With Erika and Aki contending with the attacks in Okinawa, Kaori rushes to find Tadashi, unaware that the crisis has only just begun. Infamous poor horror movie with nothing of value involved. But lots of disgust instead.   Overall Rating: 5/10   28. Dwaeji-ui Wang 돼지의 왕 [Studio Dadashow] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Psychological Drama, Suspense After his business goes bankrupt, 30-something Kyung-Min (Oh Jung-Se) kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his anger, he seeks out his former middle school classmate Jong-Suk (Yang Ik-June). Jong-Suk now works as a ghostwriter for an autobiography, but he dreams of writing his own novel. For the first time in 15 years, they meet. Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk both hide their own current situations and begin to talk about their middle school days. At their middle school, they were classified by their wealth and grades. Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk were at the bottom. They were called pigs. They were bullied by a ruling class called dogs. When they were called pigs, they got angry but couldn't do anything against the dogs. Then a king of pigs appears—Chul (Kim Hye-Na). Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk became to rely on Chul-Yi. Now, leading Jong-Suk to their middle school grounds, Kyung-Min discloses the shocking truth to Jong-Suk of what happened 15 years ago. Ultraviolence, total loss of any morale. Just maniacs killing animals, bullying and occasionally maiming people. Horrible graphics aggravate things. Good watch for maniacs, can't invent any other reason to watch this, so I'll put it to not recommended.   Overall Rating: 4/10   29. s.CRY.ed Alteration I: Tao スクライド オルタレイション 前編 ＴＡＯ [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Special recap of s.CRY.ed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the anime; featuring digital remastering and some new footage. Pretty generic imitation of Guyver.   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. Eun-sil-i The Dearest 은실이 [-] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Drama In-hye and Sun-mi visit their hometown, a small and quiet village in the countryside, after a long time only to face unexpected news: their old friend Eun-sil died while giving birth. The town is left in an uproar because of the baby, whose father is unknown, and it is neglected, protected by no one. While In-hye and Sun-mi try to save the baby with the help of Ji-young, their friend who has stayed in town, they find out that Eun-sil, who was mentally retarded, was a plaything of the village. In-hye and Sun-mi are troubled with the rage they feel against the village people and the guilty conscience they feel towards Eun-sil. Although they abandoned Eun-sil in the past, will they be able to protect her baby until the end? Drawing is ugly. Story is even more ugly. Basically, deviation becomes the norm and everyone talks about it as the norm except for couple characters who wander and can't understand how everyone around them gone mad. Depression for the sake of depression and without even a glimmer of hope.   Overall Rating: 5/10   31. Zhi Qu Wei Hu Shan 智取威虎山 [-] (Finished 0/1) Tags: Drama, Fantasy - Not found.   Overall Rating: 0/10
  25. kivandopulus
    Not a single title that I deem worthy. If I needed to choose from the rest, it'd probably be Nisemonogatari .   1. Another アナザー [P.A. Works] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Gore, School Horror, Mystery, Supernatural In class 3-3 of Yomiyama North Junior High, transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara makes his return after taking a sick leave for the first month of school. Among his new classmates, he is inexplicably drawn toward Mei Misaki—a reserved girl with an eyepatch whom he met in the hospital during his absence. But none of his classmates acknowledge her existence; they warn him not to acquaint himself with things that do not exist. Against their words of caution, Kouichi befriends Mei—soon learning of the sinister truth behind his friends' apprehension. The ominous rumors revolve around a former student of the class 3-3. However, no one will share the full details of the grim event with Kouichi. Engrossed in the curse that plagues his class, Kouichi sets out to discover its connection to his new friend. As a series of tragedies arise around them, it is now up to Kouichi, Mei, and their classmates to unravel the eerie mystery—but doing so will come at a hefty price. Watched it before, but it's easily forgettable, boring, with lackluster ending and loopholes like most mysteries.   Overall Rating: 6/10   2. High School DxD ハイスクールD×D [TNK] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Harem, Mythology, School Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi High school student Issei Hyoudou is your run-of-the-mill pervert who does nothing productive with his life, peeping on women and dreaming of having his own harem one day. Things seem to be looking up for Issei when a beautiful girl asks him out on a date, although she turns out to be a fallen angel who brutally kills him! However, he gets a second chance at life when beautiful senior student Rias Gremory, who is a top-class devil, revives him as her servant, recruiting Issei into the ranks of the school's Occult Research club. Slowly adjusting to his new life, Issei must train and fight in order to survive in the violent world of angels and devils. Each new adventure leads to many hilarious (and risqué) moments with his new comrades, all the while keeping his new life a secret from his friends and family in High School DxD! The first association with ecchi is High School DxD for me. Tried to watch it several times, but inevitably dropped during this first season. Plot is pretty much usual Shana, plus fanservice.   Overall Rating: 6/10   3. Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou Daily Lives of High School Boys 男子高校生の日常 [Sunrise] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Gag Humor, School Comedy Roaming the halls of the all-boys Sanada North High School are three close comrades: the eccentric ringleader with a hyperactive imagination Hidenori, the passionate Yoshitake, and the rational and prudent Tadakuni. Their lives are filled with giant robots, true love, and intense drama... in their colorful imaginations, at least. In reality, they are just an everyday trio of ordinary guys trying to pass the time, but who said everyday life couldn't be interesting? Whether it's an intricate RPG reenactment or an unexpected romantic encounter on the riverbank at sunset, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou is rife with bizarre yet hilariously relatable situations that are anything but mundane. After Kimi to Boku something like this was inevitable. Focus here is on humor, but since everyone here is an idiot, humor is corresponding... but should be enjoyable if you get to like this humor.   Overall Rating: 6/10   4. Nisemonogatari 偽物語 [Shaft] (Finished 11/11) Tags: Comedy, Mystery, Supernatural, Ecchi  Surviving a vampire attack, meeting several girls plagued by supernatural entities, and just trying to get through life are some of the things high school student Koyomi Araragi has had to deal with lately. On top of all this, he wakes up one morning to find himself kidnapped and tied up by his girlfriend Hitagi Senjougahara. Having run afoul of Deishuu Kaiki, a swindler who conned Senjougahara's family, she has taken it upon herself to imprison Araragi to keep him safe from the con man. But when Araragi gets a frantic message from his sister Karen, he learns that the fraud has set his sights on her. Along with Karen's troubles, his other sister, Tsukihi, is having issues of her own. And when two mysterious women who seem to know more than they should about Araragi and his special group of friends step into their lives, not even he could anticipate their true goals, nor the catastrophic truths soon to be revealed. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   5. Inu x Boku SS Inu X Boku Secret Service 妖狐×僕SS [David Production] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Shounen Mythology Comedy, Romance, Supernatural  Ririchiyo Shirakiin is the sheltered daughter of a renowned family. With her petite build and wealthy status, Ririchiyo has been a protected and dependent girl her entire life, but now she has decided to change all that. However, there is just one problem—the young girl has a sharp tongue she can't control, and terrible communication skills. With some help from a childhood friend, Ririchiyo takes up residence in Maison de Ayakashi, a secluded high-security apartment complex that, as the unsociable 15-year-old soon discovers, is home to a host of bizarre individuals. Furthermore, their quirky personalities are not the strangest things about them: each inhabitant of the Maison de Ayakashi, including Ririchiyo, is actually half-human, half-youkai. But Ririchiyo's troubles have only just begun. As a requirement of staying in her new home, she must be accompanied by a Secret Service agent. Ririchiyo's new partner, Soushi Miketsukami, is handsome, quiet... but ridiculously clingy and creepily submissive. With Soushi, her new supernatural neighbors, and the beginning of high school, Ririchiyo definitely seems to have a difficult path ahead of her. Butlers, super agents and supernatural powers kill most of the fun for me from the start and same cringy moves that are supposed to be humor just aren't.   Overall Rating: 6/10   6. Zero no Tsukaima F The Familiar of Zero F ゼロの使い魔F [J.C.Staff] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Isekai Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Ecchi  Saito Hiraga and Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière go on the offensive after the events of Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo. Together, they face off against King Joseph in the Holy City of Romalia with the help of two others who control the power of the "void." But in the midst of the many conflicts ahead of them, an ancient evil begins to stir in the shadows. Will their close bonds blossom into something more or will they be shattered through the ever increasing difficulty of the tasks that they must undertake? Zero no Tsukaima F follows the story of Louise and Saito as they face their final challenges together. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   7. Ano Natsu de Matteru Waiting in the Summer あの夏で待ってる [J.C.Staff] (Finished 4/12) Tags: Love Polygon Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi While testing out his camera on a bridge one summer night, Kaito Kirishima sees a blue light streaking across the sky, only to be blown off the railing seconds later. Just before succumbing to unconsciousness, a hand reaches down to grab ahold of his own. Dazed and confused, Kaito wakes up the next morning wondering how he ended up back in his own room with no apparent injuries or any recollection of the night before. As he proceeds with his normal school life, Kaito and his friends discuss what to do with his camera, finally deciding to make a film with it over their upcoming summer break. Noticing that Kaito has an interest in the new upperclassmen Ichika Takatsuki, his friend Tetsurou Ishigaki decides to invite her, as well as her friend Remon Yamano, to join them in their movie project. In what becomes one of the most entertaining and exciting summers of their lives, Kaito and his friends find that their time spent together is not just about creating a film, but something much more meaningful that will force them to confront their true feelings and each other. A quite habitual plot of alien girl becoming a transferred student and stealing all the attention and clinging to protagonist so all the other girls start to pay a lot more attention to protagonist as well. All that's left is multiple situations on the theme. And despite ok characters, can't call it particularly interesting.   Overall Rating: 6/10   8. Black★Rock Shooter (TV) ブラック★ロックシューター [Ordet, SANZIGEN] (Finished 8/8) Tags: Mahou Shoujo, Super Power Action, Drama On the first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi happens to run into Yomi Takanashi, a shy, withdrawn girl whom she immediately takes an interest in. Mato tries her best to make conversation with Yomi, wanting to befriend her. At first, she is avoided, but the ice breaks when Yomi happens to notice a decorative blue bird attached to Mato's phone, which is from the book "Li'l Birds At Play." Discovering they have a common interest, the two form a strong friendship. In an alternate universe, the young girls exist as parallel beings, Mato as Black★Rock Shooter, and Yomi as Dead Master. Somehow, what happens in one world seems to have an effect on the other, and unaware of this fact, the girls unknowingly become entangled by the threads of fate. OVA was very hasty and forced, so I'd say ignore OVA. So two teenagers worry about slightest things and transform them into fierce battles in the alternative universe. All this melodrama resembles Persona to me.  Well, I could not care less. All this teenager psycho can be summarized by phrase from last episode "You don't understand me at all"! Grow up, I guess.  Overall Rating: 6/10   9. Natsume Yuujinchou Shi Natsume's Book of Friends Season 4 夏目友人帳 肆 [Brain's Base] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shoujo Iyashikei, Mythology Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural Takashi Natsume, the timid youkai expert and master of the Book of Friends, continues his journey towards self-understanding and acceptance with the help of friends both new and old. His most important ally is still his gluttonous and sake-loving bodyguard, the arrogant but fiercely protective wolf spirit Madara—or Nyanko-sensei, as Madara is called when in his usual disguise of an unassuming, pudgy cat. Natsume, while briefly separated from Nyanko-sensei, is ambushed and kidnapped by a strange group of masked, monkey-like youkai, who have spirited him away to their forest as they desperately search for the Book of Friends. Realizing that his "servant" has been taken out from right under his nose, Nyanko-sensei enlists the help of Natsume's youkai friends and mounts a rescue operation. However, the forest of the monkey spirits holds many dangerous enemies, including the Matoba Clan, Natsume's old nemesis. Stretching from the formidable hideout of the Matoba to Natsume's own childhood home, Natsume Yuujinchou Shi is a sweeping but familiar return to a world of danger and friendship, where Natsume will finally confront the demons of his own past. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   10. Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father! パパのいうことを聞きなさい！ [feel.] (Finished 3/12) Tags: Childcare Comedy, Romance Yuuta Segawa has just started his freshman year of university. One day, his sister Yuri, who raised him after their parents died, asks him to take care of her daughters Hina, Sora and Miu while she and her husband go overseas on a business trip. Yuuta grudgingly accepts, but tragedy strikes when their plane goes missing and all passengers are presumed dead. In an effort to prevent the three girls from being split up, Yuuta goes against their family and takes them in, just as his sister took him in when he had no one else. Now the four find themselves in a new and peculiar situation: Yuuta must learn how to balance his new responsibilities—as the newest member of the Street Observation Research Society, a club for people watching, and also as a father figure—while Sora, Miu, and Hina come to terms with the loss of their parents. It comes after Usagi Drop, it has typical protagonist and two girls of similar age, so it becomes a light cute comedy. I remember trying it and probably dropping or not remembering it after beginning anyway.   Overall Rating: 6/10   11. Amagami SS+ Plus アマガミSS+ plus [AIC] (Finished 13/13) Tags: Harem, School Romance In the aftermath of Amagami SS, high school student Junichi Tachibana continues his relationships with the girls at his school. Amagami SS+ Plus offers a glimpse into what happened after the resolution of each girl's individual story. New events begin to take place between each of the girls and Junichi. Tsukasa Ayatsuji, the class representative, runs for student council president; Rihoko Sakurai, who has taken over the Tea Club with Junichi, still wants to confess her feelings to him; Ai Nanasaki questions the future of her relationship with Junichi when he leaves for college; Kaoru Tanamachi wonders if her relationship with Junichi will ever go any further; Sae Nakata and Junichi deal with classmates who still can't believe that someone so cute is his girlfriend; and Haruka Morishima wants to take their relationship to the next level and get married. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   12. Brave 10 ブレイブ・テン [TMS Entertainment] (Finished 1/12) Tags: Seinen Historical, Samurai, Super Power Action, Adventure Isanami, a young priestess of Izumo, is forced to watch as a group of evil ninja burn her temple to the ground and slaughter the people within, leaving her no choice but to flee into the forest to escape the same fate. By chance, she stumbles upon Saizou Kirigakure, a masterless ninja from the Iga school. The two travel to Ueda Castle to ask Yukimura Sanada for help. Isanami's possession of a strange and devastating power is revealed, and Sanada readily agrees to help her, gathering ten brave warriors to Isanami's side. Thus begins Brave 10, a story set in the Warring States period. It follows Saizou and Isanami's journey throughout the war-laden lands in search of brave warriors to serve under Yukimura's banner, each possessing powerful skills of their own. They'll have to travel far and wide, all while trying to fend off those who would chase after the dark power that she possesses to make it their own. I don't believe that ninja anime can be good, plus supernatural abilities and real warring states don't go together well. Don't see anything besides typical ninja action here and don't want to go further.   Overall Rating: 6/10   13. Kill Me Baby キルミーベイベー [J.C.Staff] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Gag Humor, School Comedy  Kill Me Baby is the touching story of Yasuna, a normal (?) high school girl, and Sonya, her best friend who happens to be an assassin. Unfortunately, little Sonya's trained assassin instincts often work against her and others in her daily high school life, as Yasuna's often-broken wrist can attest to. She just wanted a hug, but she ended up with a broken neck. Isn't it sad? No, it's hilarious. Not even Yasuna's intense ninja training can prepare her for the exciting adventures in this explosive 4-panel manga adaptation. Fast succession of yonkomas, so such random gag humor is indigestible for me without actual story.   Overall Rating: 6/10   14. Senki Zesshou Symphogear Symphogear 戦姫絶唱シンフォギア [Satelight, Encourage Films] (Finished 2/13) Tags: Idols (Female), Music Action, Sci-Fi Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amou—the idol duo known as Zwei Wing—use their songs to power ancient weapons known as "symphogears" to combat a deadly alien race called the "Noise." While the general public is aware of the Noise's existence, knowledge of the symphogears are kept a secret. When the Noise attack one of Zwei Wing's concerts, Kanade sacrifices herself to protect a young girl named Hibiki Tachibana, leaving Tsubasa devastated and a fragment of her symphogear embedded within Hibiki. Two years pass and Hibiki is once again dragged into a Noise attack. While rescuing a young girl who has been left behind during the evacuation, she awakens the power of Kanade's symphogear lying within her. Although Tsubasa still grieves over the loss of Kanade, both girls must now learn to work together using their powers to defend humanity against the Noise. Generic macross without mecha. Maybe it's for girls, I dunno...   Overall Rating: 6/10   15. Aquarion Evol アクエリオンEVOL [Satelight, 8bit] (Finished 1/26) Tags: Mecha Action, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi 12,000 years after the events in Genesis Aquarion, humans live on the star Vega under constant threat of trans-dimensional beings called Abductors. These enemies originate from Vega’s sister star Altair and raid Vega for human life. As a countermeasure, an organization known as Neo-DEAVA formed to combat the Abductors. They pilot advanced mecha suits called Aquaria and are strictly separated by gender. Boys and girls are not allowed contact; they are even restrained from fighting on the same battlefield. However, events take a shocking turn when an advanced Abductor mecha suit joins the fray. Two teenagers, Mikono and Amata, are dragged into the conflict. Unknowingly, Amata performs a taboo when he summons an Aquaria and initializes what is called the Forbidden Union between male and female Aquaria. Neo-DEAVA is shocked, and the repercussions of Amata’s actions are much farther reaching than he realizes. How was he able to summon an Aquaria? Where did he learn to form a Forbidden Union? And why was Mikono also able to pilot the mecha suit? Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   16. Area no Kishi The Knight in the Area エリアの騎士 [Shin-Ei Animation] (Finished 1/37) Tags: Shounen School, Team Sports Comedy Kakeru and Suguru are brothers who both have a flaming passion for soccer. However, while Suguru becomes a rising star in the Japanese youth soccer system, Kakeru decides to take on a managerial role after struggling on the field. But due to a cruel twist of fate, Kakeru ends up reevaluating the role he has chosen. In hopes of one day being able to enter the World Cup by becoming a member of the national team, Kakeru trains harder than anyone else. He isn’t alone in this quest for glory, though. Kakeru's childhood friend, Nana, is a soccer prodigy of her own, with the wicked nickname “Little Witch”. She is a top-ranked player and is already playing for Nadeshiko Japan, the Japanese women’s national team. Nana's success gives Kakeru the extra push he needs to reach for his goals. Soccer and adolescent fervor combine for an epic, emotional ride. Check it out for yourself in Area no Kishi! Another quite simple spokon with something remotely resembling humor.   Overall Rating: 5/10   17. Mouretsu Pirates Bodacious Space Pirates モーレツ宇宙海賊 [Satelight] (Finished 2/26) Tags: Space Award Winning, Sci-Fi Far in the future, where interstellar travel is considered commonplace, high school student Marika Katou balances her duties in the space yacht club and her job as a restaurant waitress. Following a chance encounter with a peculiar pair of customers, Marika meets them again and learns that her absent father has passed away. During his life, he was known as the legendary pirate "Gonzaemon." He has left behind his infamous ship Bentenmaru and its crew exclusively for Marika to inherit. With one of the few remaining Letters of Marque that permit legal piracy, Marika must choose whether to stay as a regular student or take up a second life as a high-octane space pirate. As Marika ponders her decision, the delicate situation attracts the eyes of various government agencies and the mysterious transfer student Chiaki Kurihara, all eager to see if the upcoming captain lives up to her father's reputation. If the crew of the Bentenmaru want to maintain their status, they will need to set sail into the vast expanse of space and once again become a name to be feared. Wow, inheriting legal pirate license sounds... cringy. So it's basically school SOL, but in the alternative world with space travel and habituated planets. It's slow-paced, so it hopes to engage viewers with rich world, details, characters and fun adventures. But for me it's pure boredom.   Overall Rating: 6/10   18. Rinne no Lagrange Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne 輪廻のラグランジェ [Xebec] (Finished 2/12) Tags: Mecha Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi Madoka Kyouno is an energetic girl who is full of passion. As the proud, and only, member of the Kamogawa Girls' High School Jersey Club, she goes around helping people in need. Madoka's life is turned upside down when she is suddenly asked by a mysterious girl named Lan to pilot a robot. Motivated by her desire to protect the people and city of Kamogawa, Madoka agrees to pilot the resurrected Vox robot to fight against extraterrestrials that have come to attack Earth. Pretty average Xebec mecha which inevitably means bad.   Overall Rating: 5/10   19. Shin Tennis no Oujisama The Prince of Tennis II 新テニスの王子様 [Production I.G, M.S.C] (Finished 1/13) Tags: Shounen School Sports Ryouma Echizen is one of 50 nationally ranked middle school tennis players to receive an invitation for the Japan U-17 tennis training camp. Previously open only to high school players, the exclusive regiment trains the best players in the country for the upcoming U-17 World Cup. The high schoolers are not pleased that these middle schoolers are allowed into the camp, but the middle schoolers easily overwhelm them before they are halted by the coaches. The rules of the camp are soon explained: the players are split into one of 16 courts based on skill, with the best players occupying Court 1. Players move up and down courts based on "shuffle matches" that occur before practice begins each day. In anticipation of a game, the middle schoolers are asked to pair up with one another, only to find out that they would not be playing doubles with their partners. Instead, they are pitted against each other in a tiebreaker-style game. The winner of the match would be allowed to stay to further develop their skills whereas the loser would be sent home. For the sake of tennis, friendships and camaraderie are all put on the line. As the fierce competition between the middle and high schoolers persists, the situations they find themselves in goes deeper than just playing to remain in the camp. Sequel.    Overall Rating: 5/10   20. Smile Precure! Glitter Force スマイルプリキュア [Toei Animation] (Finished 1/48) Tags: Mahou Shoujo Action, Fantasy To teenager Miyuki Hoshizora, fairy tales are a world of wondrous encounters and happy endings. Inspired by her love for these stories, she lives every day searching for happiness. While running late on her first day of school as a transfer student, Miyuki meets Candy—a mysterious fairy from the world of fairy tales, Märchenland. However, when Candy disappears as quickly as she appeared, Miyuki is left believing the encounter was only a dream. After an eventful first day, Miyuki finds a mysterious library at school. While combing through the bookshelves, she is transported next to Candy, who claims to be searching for the so-called legendary warriors, Precure. When forced to protect Candy's and everyone else's happiness, Miyuki transforms into "Cure Happy," one of the Precure warriors! As Cure Happy, Miyuki is now tasked with finding the other legendary warriors and protecting the world from destruction, all while possibly discovering her very own happy ending. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   21. Thermae Romae テルマエ・ロマエ [DLE] (Finished 3/3) Tags: Seinen Historical, Time Travel Comedy Lucius Modestus, an ancient Roman architect, finds himself job-hunting due to having trouble coming up with new ideas. As his demeanor and personality become dismal, his friends try taking him to a bathhouse for him to relax. Unable to unwind in the bustling and crowded bath, Lucius dips his head in the water. Down there, he finds a secret tunnel that transports him to a modern-day Japanese bathhouse, providing him the inspiration he needed to make a new creation. Loaded with what seems to be knowledge way ahead of his time, Lucius does his best to try and recreate his findings, usually inferior in quality due to his circumstances. However, the sheer ingenuity may be just enough to gain the attention of the citizens and regain his reputation as an architect. To get even remotely interesting it needed to get out of its way, but this anime is deliberately crude and amateurish and silly gags-centric.   Overall Rating: 5/10   22. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Dai 2 Maku Detective Opera Milky Holmes 2 探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ 第2幕 [J.C.Staff, Artland] (Finished 12/12) Tags: Super Power Comedy, Mystery Second season of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. Sequel.   Overall Rating: 6/10   23. Kimi no Iru Machi: Tasogare Kousaten A Town Where You Live: Crossing at Twilight 君のいる町 黄昏交差点 [Tatsunoko Production] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Shounen School Drama, Romance Eba Yuzuki has mysteriously decided to go to high school in the countryside. But despite Kirishima Haruto's objections, she is living in his home. Now he has to put up with a freeloading city girl and even worse, make sure Kanzaki Nanami, the girl he likes, doesn't get the wrong idea! So this is a serious love triangle in form of two episodes. Decent at best.   Overall Rating: 6/10   24. Holy Knight Holy Knight (ホーリーナイト) [] (Finished 2/2) Tags: Seinen School, Vampire Fantasy, Ecchi The story centers around a timid orphan named Mizumura Shinta who goes to a missionary school in Tokyo. His seemingly normal life changes when a beautiful half-human Romanian girl named Lilith suddenly transfers into his school. Mizumura discovers that he is actually a vampire hunter and the successor of the Romuald lineage. Just as setting is paved, it's already time for an abrupt ending, so not cool.   Overall Rating: 5/10   25. Minori Scramble! みのりスクランブル!  [ufotable] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Comedy  Tamaki is an elementary school girl. Her father Dr. Yagiyama loves penguins and his excessive lectures about penguins makes Tamaki hate them. In order to get rid of her hatred of penguins, he engineers the penguin-roid "Minori". Tamaki and Minori run about the neighborhood to solve troubles caused by her father. Cute random short comedy.   Overall Rating: 6/10   26. Strike Witches Movie Strike Witches: The Movie ストライクウィッチーズ 劇場版 [AIC] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Military Action, Sci-Fi, Ecchi After fending off the threat of a Neuroi invasion of Romagna and destroying the enemy's nest over Venezia, Yoshika Miyafuji goes back to her home town in the Empire of Fusou. Despite the loss of her magical and healing abilities, the former officer of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing wants to continue studying medicine. This is in order to help those in need, both civilians and those on the front lines alike. She receives an invitation from a prestigious school in Europe and decides to accept the offer, embarking on a journey back to the war-torn continent. However, a new danger arises, as more and more Neuroi manage to break through human defense lines, appearing unnoticed in supposedly safe areas and disturbing the balance of power in Europe. Yoshiki's sense of duty collides with her inability to pilot a Striker Unit, but with her friends in peril, it seems that there is only one thing she can do. Bland movie with four small battles against aliens and lots of patsushots in-between, because wearing skirts in this world must be an offences as no one does that.   Overall Rating: 5/10   27. .hack//The Movie: Sekai no Mukou ni .hack//The Movie セカイの向こうに [CyberConnect2, Anima] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Video Game Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi In 2024, the computer network prevails throughout daily life. Sora Yuuki is a 14-year-old girl. One day, she is invited to an online game "The World". After an accident in the game, the real world begins to deform. Full CGI is a big minus. Contents is a bit better than usual due to epic confrontation by the end and its link with the real life electricity blackout. Still, too hectic and overall is not that different from the previous titles, thus skippable.   Overall Rating: 6/10   28. Dragon Age: Blood Mage no Seisen Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker ドラゴンエイジ -ブラッドメイジの聖戦- [Oxybot] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Action, Fantasy  In a time of darkness and barbarism, the Chantry has arisen - a religious order seeking to bring stability to a world corrupted by sinister magic. Led by the Divine, the Chantry's Templar warriors ruthlessly restrain the Mages and their magical cabals. But when the Templars fail, the most elite order of the Chantry takes charge - the Seekers! I'm quite the fan of Dragon Age franchise, so imagine my surprise. Full CGI, sadly. Story is nothing big - just reacting on happening events.   Overall Rating: 6/10   29. Magic Tree House マジック・ツリーハウス [Ajia-do] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Time Travel Adventure Based on The Magic Tree House series, award winning series of children books written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. Time and space travel through using books... collecting four medallions in different eras... and all that in a kids book...   Overall Rating: 5/10   30. s.CRY.ed Alteration II: Quan スクライド オルタレイション 後編 ＱＵＡＮ [Sunrise] (Finished 1/1) Tags: Super Power Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Second part of the s.CRY.ed recap. At least some kind of twist happens in the second half, but it's beyond salvation by this point already.   Overall Rating: 5/10
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