Tokyo ESP

Over winter break, the best way to spend it is to indulge in video games and anime. Now you might be thinking that is a waste of time and to that I say "to each his own." The first anime I sat down to watch was from the creators of Ga-Rei Zero, called Tokyo ESP. I admit, I didn't like Ga-Rei, but the premise of Tokyo ESP seemed rather interesting, I decided to give it a shot.

The story of Tokyo ESP follows a young high school girl named Rinka who lives with her father and struggles financially. One day, on the way to school, she meets a glowing yellow fish, which swims into her body and knocks her out. The next morning however, she wakes up on the first floor of her apartment complex with snow-white hair, and as soon as she gathers her self, she starts sinking through the floor again. As it turns out, the magical fish has given her the ESP to pass through objects, and her friend, Azuma Kyoutarou, has the ESP to teleport. Together, they meet a variety of other of ESP users and try to bring justice to the world. However, a select group of ESPers have decided that they want to take over the world, and install a new world order that puts normal humans at the bottom of the food chain. As they make their motives known, this causes tension between the normal humans and ESPers, even to the point of making a separate zone for the ESPers. As tensions rise, it is up to the "White Girl" Rinka to ease tensions between the two groups and bring order to Tokyo.

The story line was solid on concept, but I do feel like they missed a lot of opportunities to develop the characters. At the start of the series Rinka is your average girl that has money issues, but as the series goes on, she develops into a hero of justice, but that is about it. Her dad is hinted at to be a former cop, but we don't really get to know him that well either. The list goes on and on for all the characters, and I believe if this series had been twenty-two episodes rather than 12, I think they would have gotten a lot more chances to develop the characters and the plot its self. They did adopt a training episode, which was needed to see that she was training to get stronger, but with the anime being only twelve episodes, I think that they could have devoted more time of this one episode to character development. We do get to see a bit of Ayumu's story in that episode, but I just think it took up time they could have been using to get on with the plot.There is also a gap in between episodes four and five that felt like they were in a hurry to introduce the villain, which needed to be done, but I wish they could have done that a bit more smoothly.The ending felt rushed, and it irritated me that they had a deus ex machina ending where Rinka was able to kill the Professor.


The characters, on the other hand, tended to annoy me to no end. Like I said before, Rinka is your goody two-shoes that saves the day, but she does get beaten to a pulp multiple times and still is able to fight decently, where any other person would have black out. Her friend, Azuma Kyoutarou, goes missing mid-way through the series due to be kidnapped by his adopted sister, Minami, and even though we learn a bit about his past, it felt like the anime just kind of halted his character development. Along the way Rinka and Kyoutarou meet a theif by the name of Kobushi, whohas the power to turn invisible. She seemed like a fun character to develop, even crushing on Rinka's dad because she wish she had a father like that. Do we find out anything about her past? No. The villain, Azuma Hokusai, irritated me because he had the power of illusions and he was the one that started the war of humans vs. ESPers, and to boot, he just had a cocky attitude that just made me want to strangle him. I am ok with having a powerful villain, but I not ok with having an all powerful villain, with a dick personality and endless supply of resources. The list goes on and on about characters that were underdeveloped.

The music and audio for this series was actually pretty decent. The opening theme "Tokyo Zero Hearts," had a fun techno vibe to, and along with the animation that went along with it, it felt amazing. The animation for the show was decent, but not as fluid as the opening theme regrettably. I did like the fact they tried to make the animation more pronounced when a character was using their ESP powers, such as Rinka's hair turning white or Kyoutarou's and Minami's teleportation had a fade effect to them. The voice actors also fit the character's nicely too, and nothing felt out of place voice acting wise.


Overall, despite its many, many flaws, I found my self rather enjoying this anime. If anything, this anime has made me want to pick up the manga on my spare time to find out if they tie any loose ends that anime had left me with. In some ways I hope that there is a season two because it felt as if the series left things a bit open ended to make a second season.

Kami-Sama Dolls

Lately, I've taken to watching anime with a few good friends of mine. Between getting to spend time together and watching anime, for me it is a win-win situation. We usually try to find stuff that is somewhat serious but also a good watch and that is entertaining. When I stumbled upon Kami-Sama Dolls, I was hoping this was the serious anime we were looking for, maybe with a bit of mecha and super natural thrown in. I could not have been more wrong sadly.

Our plot starts off with our main character, Kyouhei, moving into the city from a secluded small town in the mountains. In the small town, they have people called Seki, and they control these dolls that are revered as gods and sometimes use them to fight other people. While in the city, Kyohei and his friend, Hibino, come across a pile of bodies one night and immediately his childhood friend,Aki, shows up and Kyohei tries to blame the murder on him. As the plot progresses, it turns into a mess of trying to figure out who killed all of those people, as well a mess of back stories. Amongst the back stories, is the reason why Aki became exiled from the village and the beginnig of the story of a doll with no seki.

The plot for this anime has one major problem: pacing. You can clearly tell they wanted twenty four episodes but they were only granted thirteen. They crammed so much into one episode it felt like each episode was an hour long when in reality they were half that. Another issue was while they crammed so much in one episode it felt like it was just dragging on and on, it felt like nothing ever truely got accomplished. 

The characters somehow are worse than the plot. Our main character,Kyohei, is hinted to have been a really powerful Seki when he held the title later in the series, but we never see evidence of that. He just comes off as every other male main character I have ever encountered. His little sister,Utao, took over his position as Seki, but while she should have been powerful, she just comes off as childish and gets angry over stupid things. Worst yet, she was so childish and innocent that everyone fawned over her to the point that i felt awkward watching those scenes. Kyohei's love interest, Hibino, had one the flattest personalities I have ever seen. Her character development began and ended in boobs. When she gets kidnapped, the Mahiru, Kyohei's stalker, just knows her as the girl with the boobs, nothing else. Aki, our main antagonist, is supposed to be this misunderstood supposed pyschopath, but he usually just end up being bland as ever.

The art was another pitfall for this anime. Our characters look bland and if I didn't know they were our main characters, they would have faded into the background. Another qualm my friend and I had was the fact that Hibino's boobs seemed to change sizes depending on the shot. Now I do understand angles, but they seemed to change sizes by the frame. The backgrounds them selves were nothing spectacular to be honest. The only redeeming quality about the art was the art and animation of the dolls, and even that was poor. 

Over all,although usually when I watch a bad anime, I can enjoy it. However, with Kami-sama Dolls, the lack of enjoyment made this anime even more boring. It just took its self too seriously, making this anime even worse. 

Nagi no Asukara

I will not deny, I love movies and shows with under water scenes or that take place under water. It is something about these shows that draw me to them, and they often do not disappoint. In Fall 2013 season, a new anime started airing and it had the mystique of under the sea written all over it. Nagi no Asukara appeared to be a beautifully animated work of art, and it also appeared to be right up my alley for an anime.

Nagi no Asukara starts off with a group of  middle school kids, Hikari, Manaka, Chisaki, and Kaname, from underwater who have just found out that their old school is closing and they must transfer schools. Since there isn't any other schools under the sea, they decide to go to a school on the surface. Before they start school, Manaka gets caught up in a fishing net by a soon to be classmate named Tsumugu and almost near instantly falls in love with him. However, the peace that the group from under the sea and even the surface can not last forever and there is something omninous waiting for them on the horizon. 

The plot is very character driven as it is a drama anime. Even though the begin all, end all problem is an external source from outside the characters,name the fact that they are threatened with the fact that they might be going to sleep for a very long time and might wake up long after everyone they have ever known on the surface has passed away. Also, within the anime, there was a time skip, whichshowed how everyone one the surface had change, but yet the people from underwater hadn't changed one bit. The second arc, which also revolved around finding Manaka's ability to love, was also decent, but in some ways it felt like it went on too long.

However, the drama at some points makes no sense, especially since Chisaki keeps flipping back and forth between the male cast. Hikari starts off as a headstrong character, but he eventually learns to mature and show his soft side, especially in a time of crisis. Kaname is the other male member from the underwater cast, and while he is plot relevant, he usually gets shoved into the background until he is brought up again but then he just disappears into the back ground. Manaka is an interesting character as she is portrayed to be the love interest of Hikari, but she is completely ditzy and ends up falling in love with the boy from the surface, Tsumugu. Are these characters the most original characters out there? No, but for the most part they were decent characters. The one exception lays in Chisaki because I have a feeling that she knew she was a side character in comparison to Hikari and Manaka, but she kept trying to butt her way into the story.Miuna's character became more developed after the time skip was done, but by the end of it, I honestly felt sorry for her because Chisaki, Sayu and Manaka ended up with their own special someone, while she sacrificed her happiness for Hikari. 


The art for this anime is actually pretty amazing. The underwater scenes were so well animated it honestly took my breath away. There is quality animation for the surface scenes as well, but the real quality comes from underwater. All the characters has great character designs,except for Iam still wondering what the little feather things are behind Manaka's ears. Another part of the art style for the characters I liked was actually the eyes of the people from the sea. The eyes were such a pretty blue that I couldn't help but to admire them.

Now was Nagi no Asukara the perfect anime? No it wasn't. It lacked some consistency about the Ena, the layer of skin that covers the people from the sea's skins to enable them to breathe underwater. Also, as I have stated before, certain characters irked me , but despite its flaws, I enjoyed the emotional roller coaster that this anime put me through.

Kill La Kill

While I was at Katsucon this previous month, not only was Card Captor Sakura recommended to me, another anime was recommended to me through the Anilplex panel. At this panel, they show cased Nekomonogatari Bluray set and an anime called Magi and Vividred  and this one anime that had been garnering a lot of attention from fans called Kill La Kill. I heard about it, but until the panel really changed my mind, I was not originally going to watch it, but through a few people talking me into it, I eventually did, and honestly, I am glad I did.



The plot for Kill La Kill is simple: Matoi Ryuuko is seeking revenge on who ever killed her father. With her, she wields a back talking school uniform named Senketsu that gives her enormous power and makes her near indestructible and half of a scissor blade thats capable of cutting through anything. She goes to Honnouji Academy, where Kiryuuin Satsuki, an oppressive student council leader who has her own army of super power uniforms trying to beat Ryuuko into the ground. Along the way, she meets upwith Mankanshouku Mako, an energetic girl who is hyper active and love Ryuuko no matter what. Together, they go on the quest to defeat Satsuki to try and get her revenge on the person who killed her father.

The characters for me were lovable and well written. Even Kiryuuin Satsuki had her redeemable qualities, even though she was trying to kill our beloved Ryuuko. The Four Devas under her, Jakuzure Nonon, Sanagayama Uzu, Gamagoori Ira, and Inumuta Houka, had some funny and awesome moments as well as well as the highest super power uniform under the God Robes that Satsuki and Ryuuko possess. Mako was energetic through out the series and the way she was over dramatic in explaining things kept the series on a positive note, even the world was going to hell in a hand basket. Even the character that terrified me to no end, Harime Nui, had her awesome moments because, like Mako, was energetic and happy in all situations.


The animation for this show was unique in its own little way. It felt like it had a hand drawn feel to it, and when Mako starting getting excited and started "spinning" she actually looked like she was flipping around. The action scenes were well animated, and the whole battle sequences felt over the top like in Guran Lagaan. Every time they used their attacks, there was text, which also helped with the over the top feel, and even added for some hilarity as well.The uniforms had almost their own little transformation sequences, making it feel like a magical girl. The uniform that Ryuuko had, I will admit, was skimpy, but it is not worth the controversy. The outfits were all distinguishable and related to their powers, which was interesting and, I will admit, pretty cool.

Overall, I am glad I gave this anime a chance because it was not as serious I thought it was going to be. I will admit, I am sad that it is over, it was an enjoyable ride and unlike most anime, it wrapped up everything nicely at the end. Studio Trigger did a great job at animating this, and I am looking forward to what they have in the future.

Card Captor Sakura

When I went to Katsucon in February, I ended up cosplaying as Sakura from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles for a panel I was a part of.   On this trip, despite all the things that happened, for better or worse, I was recommended to watch the anime that Sakura her self was originally a part of. Now, I had known that there was an anime called Card Captor Sakura by seeing crossover parodies of it on youtube, but I had not been originally interested in it due to the fact that it was seventy episodes long. However, the guys in the panel convinced me to watch it, and I am honestly glad I did.

The plot for Card Captor Sakura is pretty decent for a magical girl show. Kinomoto Sakura stumbles upon the Book of the Clow, which holds these magical cards that have a variety of abilities, from Fire to Dash, and she accidentally releases the cards from the book. However, she is given the card Windy at first to help her retrieve the cards, and with the Guardian of the Clow, Keroberos, help. Along the way, she meets a boy by the name of Syaoran who is also after the Clow Cards, and they eventually team up trying to retrieve all of the cards before they wreak havoc on the world.

The characters in this were actually pretty decent. Our lead, Sakura, is sometimes an air head, and by no means perfect, which makes for a changing character. She displays a lot of traites for a fourth grade girl, such as love interest, even though it isnt typical for a fourth grade girl to fall in love with a high schooler, the dislike of school work and wanting to play, but she also displays the mentality of when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Her friend, Tomoyo, who accompanies her on the card retrieval missions, videotapes her and make out fits, and the interactions between her and Sakura are quite interesting, but she to me is a stacitc character for most of the series. Syaoran Li is one of the most interesting characters in the cast, to perfectly honest. He goes from this little brat who is stalked by his fiancee, Meilin, to a strong independent boy who can let his soft side through a bit. Meilin was a character that was introduced mid season, but when I first saw her in the anime, she honestly annoyed me, but as time went on, she became quite the decent character. The highschoolers in the cast, Yukito, Sakura's love interest for majority of the series, and Touya, Sakura's older brother, are ever present during the beginning, especially Yukito, but while they might not be too important during the beginning, their roles steadily become more important as the show goes on.

The art for this series was pretty decent, considering the anime started in 1998 and ended in 2000. One of my biggest quelms about the animation in this anime is the fact that they reused some of the animation, such as Sakura putting on her gloves to go skating, and even the whole her skating to school sequence was reused a few times. One of the odd things about Card Captor Sakura from most magical girl anime was the fact it did not have a transformation sequence. Her outfit changed every time she went to capture a card because Tomoyo made the outfits for her. I did like the art style of Card Captor Sakura because it reminded me of how far anime art style has come, and even though they reused some sequences of the anime, I did not mind because they did not feel forced into the show; they felt completely natural.

The plot overall was a decent point of the anime. It actually came in two parts: Sakura capturing the clow cards and becoming the master of the Clow Cards, and the part where she becomes the master and has to figure out a way to use the cards that are now hers insteadof belonging to Clow Reed, the original owner of the cards. The first half was fantastic, even though in the beginning of the anime felt like it was moving too fast for itsown good. The second half the anime like it was tacked on last minute and it felt like the writers were just trying to give Sakura something to do to make a show. 

Overall, despite its flaws, I was still glad it was recommended to me.  It sometimes felt like it was magical girl, but also that it wasn't due to there were no set transformation sequences.If you haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it.

Doki Doki Precure

The magical girl genre, or mahou shoujo,  has always been a weakness of mine, Between the transformations,the fantasy elements presented in it, and the super powers, it has a lot in store for me. Usually, I love any magical girl,no question, but as it seems lately, they seem to be prettier for sure, but at what cost? Doki Doki Precure is very pretty to the eyes, but all it not glitter and roses with this anime.



Doki Doki Precure is like any other magical girl series plot wise.You have your group leader, Aida Mana, and your side Precures, Hishikawa Rikka, Kenzaki Makoto, aka Makopi, and Yotsuba Alice, and later on Madoka Aguri. Granted along the way, you have ultimate big bad guy, King Selfish, and his not so evil at times daughter, Regina, and the evil trio of Ira, Bel, and Mammo, but besides Regina and King Selfish himself, the rest just play the role of making the bad guy of the week appear, so in other words, a completely normal day in the life of mahou shoujo anime. 

The main focus of the any Precure series is indeed it characters,which in this series becomes a horrendous mistake.The mistake of which I am referencing is Aida Mana. In the early episodes, you can tell she has a pure heart and wants to do good, and that she is the center, but this become problematic later on. Throughout the series, you see that each of the characters has their own little flaws, which for the most part are forgotten as the series progresses, but as for Aida Mana, she is shown to have no flaws. She is student council president, she is athletic and she wants to do good, which isn't all bad,but it makes her into a static character. The other three Precures have their own little episodes, but any character development from these episodes, unless it's wanting to make friends with Regina, the daughter of the main villain, is almost completely ignored like the flaw didn't even exist in the first place.  Also, the anime seemsto have seemingly pointless side characters,such as Ai, the little baby found in an egg, and Joe,Queen Ange's fiance, who for the most of the series is not even present.

The art for this anime was its only saving grace honestly. The characters were well drawn out and the animation for the most part was decently smooth. Along with that, the transformation sequences were also very well done, but I, like most people, probably would have been disappointed other wise. The back ground characters emphasize the main cast by all having black hair in contrast to the pink hair or Mana,or the purple hair of Makoto.

Overall, Doki Doki precure is really only worth the watch if you are really into Precure or magical girl anime or have some time to kill. It started out with a whole lot of promise to be a decent magical girl anime in the beginning, but as the series went on, it felt like it could not sustain its self. Compared to the other Precure series, this one is weak and hopefully on the next series, they will be able to polish out the flaws. 

Another

Horror is a genre that many people seemed to be enthused with. Between the suspense of what might happen next or the jump scares that some movies use,or the combination of both, it is a very appealing genre. However, there are times when the suspense makes little to no sense or the jump scares are used so much it is repetitive and boring. The anime Another tries too hard to be suspenseful and while in some cases it succeeds, it doesn't quite get there.



The anime Another starts off with a kid named Sakakibara Kouichi that moves to the small town of Yomiyama due an issue with his lungs. At the hospital he is staying at,he meets up with a girl named Misaki Mei, a girl who is abnormally quiet and wears an eye patch over her left eye. When he transfers into the local school's class 3, Misaki Mei is in the class, but no one seems to notice her, even when he tries to draw attention to her. However, people in the class and their family members start dying from freak accidents, and as it turns out class 3 is cursed due to an extra person showing up on the class roster who in actuality is dead and it is up to class to figure out who is dead in order to stop the calamity. One of the charms used to keep the calamity from happening is for the class to make the class roster numbers right by acting like a person in the class does not exist, whether they're the ones that are dead or not.

The plot of this anime has so many holes it is not even funny. First of all, they say they can't ever get the desk count right at the beginning due to the person appearing randomly,and the fact that when the person does show up, memories get altered, but yet they know an extra person will appear. Another plot hole is the fact they even said in the anime and in the manga this curse is like a cell phone to a cell tower: if you move away from the town, the curse has little to no effect on you and almost everyone knows rumours of this curse though no one is allowed to know specifics outside class 3,so why don't the local people move out of the town? Also the part of no one allowed to know specifics is annoying because literally for the first five episodes Sakakibara is not allowed to know the exact curse but trying to find out because his classmates would not tell him the curse.  You can not tell someone in a show for a god amount of time with out sounding like complete idiots, and that's what happened in this show: his class mates not telling the information and basically being sketchy about was intriguing at first,but got redundant real fast. Worst yet, Misaki Mei knew who the dead person was,and she doesn't say anything.

The art of Another is actually pretty decent, given the abnormal amount of plot holes. The characters are well drawn, though my only complaint is yes you have your two main characters, but amongst other anime, the character designs are not unique. If you try to make the case for Misaki Mei, I might give you that one, but only because Takanashi Rikka's from Chunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai eye patch is on her right eye,nother left.  Another weird thing I noticed about the animation is at the beginning of the anime,the animation does random cuts to pictures of creepy dolls. This is not a SHAFT work, so the random cuts literally did nothing for me because at least SHAFT uses them tastefully; Another uses to the point I actually had to wonder if my video player was glitching.

The characters, like their designs, were not distinguishable or interesting. Misaki Mei is the most interesting character, and she doesn't even have that much of a presence. The classmates of Mei and Kouichi try their best to be interesting, but it turns into their bland and forgettable. In this anime everyone follows a ridiculous stereotype i.e. Misaki Mei is the quiet mysterious girl, Sakakibara is the boy that moves to a small town to recover from illness, the class representative, Akazawa, is a tsundere in a twisted sort of way. I do think this anime suffered from what I have to call "Game of Thrones Syndrome": Do not get too attached to the characters because they might die in the next episode.

Overall, I admit, I enjoyed the anime if only for the plot holes and the ridiculousness of the deaths. If I have taken any one thing away from this anime is the fact that panic will make people do things that are outside of their normal character. Otherwise, this anime,while it was trying to be serious, it became laughable by the end of how bad it actually was.

Jigoku Shoujo

A few months ago, I kind of got desperate for a new anime to watch. I felt like I had watched every anime that had caught my eye and even a few anime that hadn't. But instead of giving into peer pressure to watch Attack on Titan, someone recommended an anime called Hell Girl, or Jigoku Shoujo. Now while I was skepticalon watching this,I decided to take a look at this anime.

The premise for the anime is simple:at midnight a website opens up called Hell Link. On this website, you can enter the name of the person you want to take revenge against, and Enma Ai,otherwise known as Jigoku Shoujo, will send them down to hell at the price that when you die, you will go to hell your self. Before Jigoku Shoujo sends the people to hell, she tortures them in the most bizarre ways possible, such as showing them their worst nightmares.

At the beginning of the anime, the anime comes of as very episodic, as in one problem, one episode and almost zero continuity. However, as the series goes on, you get introduced to a couple of characters named Shibata Hajime, a reporter who wants to investigate the mystery of these mysterious deaths, and his daughter, Shibata Tsugumi, a seven year old girl who has a mysterious connection with Enma Ai and can see who she comes to that wants revenge. These characters to me add a bit continuity to the series, because, because honestly, if had kept up its episodic pace, I think I would not have enjoyed the anime as much as I did. Also along the way, Enma Ai has her own companions: Wanyuudou, a mysterious old man that becomes the doll that has the red string, Hone Onna, the mysterious woman who accompanies Enma Ai and Ichimoku Ren,a young man who has one eye covered. 

Overall, I got a kick out of this anime,mostly because I feel the pain of wanting to take revenge on a person. However, it is interesting to note while Jogoku Shoujo hands them a doll with a red string, she does not untie the string her self; she allows the person wanting revenge to untie it to enter into the contract that will send both of them to hell. I like this idea because it allows the person to rethink the decision to enact revenge.

The art stylefor this anime is dark like the theme,but it is still well drawn. The characters' expressions are sometimes a bit over done,but other than that, I was fine with the animation. Also, I do like the fact that you could tell the main cast apart, but otherwise,it felt like the characters from the episodic episodes started looking the same after a bit.

Overall, I liked this anime due to its dark air and mystery. However, it had a nice solid end, but also left some strings untied, which should be tied up in season two I hope. 

Hataraku Maou-Sama

In the recent anime season, there was an anime circling around my social circles for it's opening, plot, and overall goodness. Although I saw it on the airing list at the beginning of the season,I thought it was going ot be some dumb slice of life show,but how I was wrong. When me and my friend started watching this show,we had a ball watching it.

The story follows the Dark Lord Satan and his subordinate Alsiel going to the human world fleeing from the Hero Emilia. The Hero Emilia, follows them to the human world they try and make a living as normal people. The Dark Lord Satan, who goes by the name Maou Sadou works at McDonalds equivalent and his partner,Alsiel, who goes by Ashiya Shirou is a stay home person. Emilia, who goes by Yusa Emi works at a call center. Although they try and lead normal lives, Emilia tries and eliminate the Dark Lord Satan. However, things are not as black and white such as evil vs good or hero vs villain.

I will admit when I first read the synopsis I wasn't that impressed. The set up was just Satan gets a part time job while trying to get back home. What finally got me on board was people talking about this anime and I realized that it was a clever comedy. Yes, the story centers around him mainly trying to get back home,but what made it worth while was the comedy wrapped up in it.

The characters them selves were stereotypes, but they were well done. Sadao is your typical main character and Ashiya is your typical side kick(sometimes wife-y as my friend calls him). Emi falls into the the tsundere roll.  And last,and probably my least favorite, Chiho is the typical flat character but big boobed to try and crush on Sadao. The characters were lovable but sometimes they seemed kinda flat.

The art for the series is good, but not stellar. It is fluid, the characters well drawn except I did not like the design of Chiho. I know that she supposed to be the big boobed character but her design could have been better. The fight scenes were animated decently as well as the slice of life scenes.

Overall, I love this series. Only thing that makes me sad is that I actually can't make a drinking game of it. It's a great slice of life with a hand medling in super natural as well. I would recommend this to anyone that looking for a good anime to watch or to kill time.

Kotoura-san: First Impressions

For some reason, I can never get enough of the supernatural anime. No, I do not mean supernatural in the way of Death Note, or Code Geass, but more in the way of cutesy, not overly over thought, dragged out series. When I saw the synopsis for Kotoura-san, this seemed to be right up my ally, with cutesy animation, good light hearted story, and perhaps a character I could some-what relate to.

Watching the first episode, it was dark in tone, but it gave nice back story to our main character, Kotoura: a psychic girl who can read peoples minds. It started with small things, such as knowing what was for breakfast or beating someone in a match of rock paper scissors. However, as she got older, she started reading into peoples feelings, such as knowing who the girls in her class liked. Her psychic abilities drove a crack through her family as well. Her mother who used to be very nice, now was drinking a lot and got angry more often. Her dad also started cheating on his wife and he never came home that much. Eventually this leads to her getting abandoned to her grandpa, and her mom wishing she had never given birth to her. And due to all the teasing, she decided to transfer schools.

Pretty dark right? Luckily for me, that was only half of the first episode. The second half comes when she meets Manabe, a daydreaming boy in her new class. Although he has no interest in her at first, he learns she is psychic and accepts it, except for the part where he has to keep his perverted thoughts under control. After meeting Manabe, she eventually joins the ESP Research Society, where she has friends and is accepted by everyone.

The story for this is actually pretty good due to the fact it is dark in tone at first, but yet light hearted later on. I can't wait to see how Kotoura develops further because in anime there's a magical little thing called friendship and it has been known to do magical things.

The art and music for this anime are also very cute. In the first part, it was dark and dreary, but when she met Manabe, the tone lightened up instantly. Despite being the character that sticks out the most, Kotoura is well drawn with blonde hair and loli-like. Manabe looks, unfortunately, like any harem male lead, despite this not being a harem. The open theme is admittedly very catchy and light hearted, and the end theme is also very good.

For some reason, I find Kotoura very relateable character. Maybe it is because I was always on the getting teased end at school and can understand some of her pain, but either way, she is well developed. Manabe is your average perverted guy lead, but he is a guy lead focused on making friends with the main character, not getting in bed with her, though it might seem like that at times.

Over all, I hope that this anime can deliver what I was hoping. So far, even though it has only only two episodes released, I am very pleased. If you haven't seen this anime yet, please do. I am almost possitive you will not regret it.

Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzoo!!

For many of use, turning into animals has been a dream. What it would be like to lay around, have fun all day long and escape life's worries. For Riko, Rimu, and Nagisa, along with Ken, it is not a dream, but rather a reality for them.

Our story starts off with twins Riko and Rimu finding a little pocket toy after chasing a cat in their house. It turns out that the pocket toy is a kirumin, and it allows them to transform into animals, namely Riko into a cat and Rimu in a rabbit. They then get their older sister, Nagisa, into it, and then they start their adventures as animal detectives. They later drag in their two friends, Inomata Ken and Kijima Tamao into their activities and the kids have fun trying to solve mysteries with animals.

Now, I'll admit to being all over this anime but had to wait for it to be subbed. I will admit the story might not have been that strong, but the story was at least cute. While cutesy, it does tend to be overly so cute and might be a bit redundant, it got more serious as the anime went on, even to the point of question moral ethics. By the end of it, I felt dissapoint and wished that they could have extended the story, and explained some more of the stuff that was explained early on. 

The art for this anime was it's strong point. It's overly cute and fluffy, and well done. The transformation scenes were well done, and the sound effects made it even more cute. The "costume mode" was well done, but the transformation sequences, like all "magical girl" series (I'm using this term lightly here), took too damn long. But the animations for it were amazingly pretty, and well animated, and I'll give them credit for keeping up the art over a 50 episode series.

The characters could be looked at as strong or weak, depending on your point of view. We have the stereotypical stubborn hothead, Riko, and also Ken could fall into this catagory as well. We have the overly shy, potential "library girl," Rimu. Along with that, we have the level headed Nagisa, who serves as the voice of reason in most cases when she isn't being pushed to the side by her younger sisters, and then we have Tamao who serves as the tech and brains of the group. As a side character who appears way too often, we have Kanon, who is able to turn into a bat and who also has her own set of ideals. The characters are bearable, but I will admit, they really grate my nerves due to the fact they barely change until the last few episodes.


Overall. I'll admit it was worth the wait for this thing to get subbed. It might not be everyones cup of tea for various reasons such as too cutesy or too long, but if you can make it past that, then you potentially have found your self a diamond among anime.

Accel World

We all have those moments where we wish to escape reality, and just become a part of a video game. However, what if someone told you that you actually could? That you could visit a world that is like a game, where you can fight and level up and become the best of the best? For Arita Haruyuki, that becomes his reality.

Our story starts off with Arita Haruyuki, or Haru, who is miserableat school, who during his breaks at school  indulges in video games to help him escape reality. However, one day, he meets Kuroyukihime, one of the schools most popular girls, introduces him to a mysterious virtual reality game named Brain Burst, where people fight to the death in order to gain points and level up. As Haru gets drawn in deeper in the Accel World, where the game takes place, he learns that people are not always the same in a game as they are in real life.

Personally, I love the story for this anime.As a gamer, I think this story is epic due the fact that they can actually get involved with a video game. True, they fight to the death, and they get hurt when they take damage, but it still intrigues me as how far the technology has come in order to allow them to play a virtual reality game almost anywhere due a special device on their necks.

The characters were very relatable in my opinion. Haruyuki is a guy struggling with his own self worth, a problem that a lot of us go through on a daily basis. I will admit Kuroyukihime was that one chick that is a bit too perfect, but she slowly fades from the picture near the middle and near the end. Chiyu is of course the female lead that does nothing, i.e.Sakura from Naruto.

Overall, this anime is what you make it. On the surface, it is a sci-fi anime that deals with video games, but it could also be looked at as a guy's sturggle to find his own self worth. If you haven't checked this one out yet, it should be on the to watch radar due to the fact that the series is just so epic.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

As you might have figured out, I love ecchi anime to no end. When the anime Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai was announced for this anime season, naturally I jumped on the chance to possibly see another great ecchi anime like High School DxD. Was my wish fulfilled? In some ways, yes, in some was no.

Out story begins with Kaga Ryousuke, a normal healthy teenage boy who is a big more open about his horniness than most. One day, he meets Lisara, a reaper from the world of Grimwald, and then she tells him he only has a few weeks left to live, but then she forms a temporary contract with him so that he can provide her with energy to keep her sustained in the human world. His energy, however, comes from his horniness. As they try and prolong his life, he meets many other interesting girls along the way, including the beautiful Iria and the slightly loli Quele.

Now the story its self sounds amusing from the fact that the energy comes from him being horny, and if she takes his energy he can't get horny anymore. For some reason, just the fact that the whole anime revolves around him being horny is hilarious, and it provides for many ecchi moments. Although people might say that I'm a bit too big on ecchi  and that ecchi doesn't have a story, in this case, your wrong. There are tits and all and it still has a story, and a passable story at that.

The art kind of reminded me of High School DxD, with the main chick the guy is pursuing having red hair and the flat chested loli and a big busted girl who is close to him. True, they aired this anime uncensored, so of course there was an abundnce of boobs, and they if course were well drawn. The background art was nothing to take note of, except when they went to Grimwald, and that just had a green overtone along witha  sort of gothic feel, but I almost expect nothing less from the demon world.

The characters all fell into stereotypes, I am sad to say. Ryousuke was your typical harem lead, except for I will give him credit: he was a lot more open about his perverseness than the rest of the harem leads I have seen. Lisara was a tsundere at times, but was basically the girl he sought after. Mina was the childhood friend and sought after Ryousuke. Iria was our super maniac pixie dream girl, and like all super maniac pixie dream girls, she annoyed the crap out of me. Quele was basically there as the loli/little sister character, but I will admit, she also kind of annoyed me.

Overall, I will admit I liked this anime. It provided me with a senese that my ecchi needs had been completed. While the characters might have been stereotypes like no tomorrow, I still somehow found them enjoyable. I would like to also thank my friend, Mike for watching this with me.

Summer Season Anime Halfway Report

Ah, who doesn't love summer? Time off from school, the pool, hanging out with friends, and for me, a whole bunch of anime. This summer brought me one of the most massive anime seasons I have ever done, with a grand total of ten new airing series, in addition to the one continuing from last season. 

Arcana Famiglia 

The scenario for this anime not unique, but the way it is done sort of is. Felicità is the daughter of the head of the organization Arcana Tarocco, a group of people bestowed special powers by the tarot cards. However, her father is going to retire and the next person to lead the Arcana Taracco will decided by a few duels. Not to mention, he threw his own daughter as a part of the prize, and the winner has to marry, into the mix. She is not alone, because with her two friends, Nova, and Libertà, who refuse to marry her if they win, and together, they have to face the other family memebers.

The scenario is, at the core, a case of the girl not wanting to marry a guy because the father proposed it. Along with that, they decide to throw in a reverse harem, which adds for bishounens everywhere. With that, the art is very pretty, making the guys the main attraction. I hope for good things from it, but right now it seems they are just dealing with side quests. 


Binbougami ga!

We all have that one friend who is super lucky because they have good looks, talent, brains, and excels at everything they do. Sakura Ichiko is that girl, but she has so much luck that the world is being thrown out of balance. That's where our hero, Momiji, our Goddess of Misfortune, comes in, trying to take Ichiko's luck and restore balance to the world. 

Honestly, I like this anime a lot more than I thought at first. It has a lot of slap stick comedy, false fan service, and is just plain funny. It's a different pacing than ecchi comedy, and it had had me laughing. The characters are well done, and the art is vibrant. Honestly, this has exceeded expectations so far, and I keep hoping to have those expectations broken.


Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

Ryousuke is your typical high school guy, hormones raging and is horny as a guy can be. However, when Lisara, a girl from the world Grimwald, comes to him needing energy to sustain her self in the real world, she comes to him and uses his energy. The catch is though: he looses his sex drive. 

I will admit, I picked up this anime due to the translation of the title: Therefore I can't Fuck. I'm not kidding, and the fact that the plot sounded interesting. The anime lives up to expectations, but in different ways. I will give them credit: they air it uncensored (tits or GTFO) and to boot, the air is good. May the perverseness continue, and hopefully this anime doesn't pull what High School DxD did, and have a crap ending. 


Dog Days' 

The summer also brought us some sequels, and one of them is the second season of Dog Days. Cinque (or Sink or Shinku, depending on subs) returns to the other world, along with his childhood friend, Rebecca and his cousin, Nanami, where they all become heroes and fight alongside each nation in the art of war.

Honestly, this should have never been made. The whole set up of "war" in this anime is not even portrayed correctly. it's like a game, and they need "heroes" to help bring them to victory? No, they just need a tribute really good game show contestant. Despite all this, the art work is good and the music is just barely passable. The characters, like in the first season are decent, but there is honestly just too many. It's twelve or thirteen episodes, we don't need fifty characters!


Hagure Yuusha no Estetica 

We have all seen what goes on when a hero rescues a princess, the hardships he goes through, but what about after the job is done? What is the hero supposed to do? For Ousawa Akatsuki, this is his delima. He has the princess, Miu, and he is living happily ever after in a world where there is nothing but girls, girls, girls.

This anime is basically all the ecchi adventures one guy could ever have. Between helping a girl try on a bra, to swim suit snatching, Ousawa has it lucky. This anime, like Dakara, is aired uncensored, and it provides for some laughs. Honestly, I don't know why this was made, but I like it.


Jinrui wa Sutai Shimashita

In the near future, humanity is dying off, being replaced by a superior race called the faeries. These little guys are adorable, chibi, and honestly, I don't know how they replaced humanity. The main girl in the series, who we just know as "I"or "Watashi," serves as a mediator between the faeries and the humans, even to the point she has a few living at her house.

Why was this even made really? From episode one, it has been one of the weirdest things I have ever seen, and I have seen my fair share of weird things. Episode one brought us the bleeding bread scenario, followed by the buzzing chickens in episode two.  The art for this series is washed out color, similar to Usagi Drop, which isn't a bad thing, just makes the anime different. 


Joshiraku

We all have those days where the original conversation and the ending conversation are not the same thing. In the anime Joshiraku, the girls have random conversations, from moon viewing to how the moon looks like inappropriate things. 

If you're in the anime of "cute girls doing cute things," then you have hit paradise. Coming from the author of Sayonra Zetsubou Sensei, it is an amusing watch. The girls don't really do anything beside sit around for amusing conversations. The art for this anime is top notch I'll admit. Honestly, I hope for a lot for this anime.



Kono Naka Hitori ni, Imouto ga Iru!

Shougo has just lost his dad, and now he has to attend a new school, which is stressful enough as it is already. However, as it turns out, his younger sister also attends the school, but he doesn't know who the sister is. In his search for his sister, he meets a lot of girls along the way. 

Oh, dear lord, this reeks of incest. Along with the fact that he has to meet his illegitiment sister, she also wants to get married, and since his sister can beany girl at the school, the probability for incest is high. Other wise, the characters are semi likable, but they also seem rather flat also. The art work is decent, but otherwise, this anime just seems generic in almost every way it can.


Sword Art Online

As technology develops and advances, there is one thing they have seriously looked over in the gaming industry: virtual reality. However in Sword Art Online, they have developed it to a point that they have not only got virtual reality games, but it is so real that death in the game is actually death in the real world. After Kirito and a whole bunch of other people get trapped in the game, they must not only beat the game to get out, but they must be careful not to die in the game because the virtual reality machine will kill them in the real world. 

Interesting concept for this anime, I  must admit. It's almost every gamer's dream, if not worst nightmare. One of the things that I have found weird about this anime is the fact that it paces out so weird. In one episode, they might cover ten floors, and in the next, they hardly cover two. Another weird thing is they don't seem to take the death thing too seriously. Almost every episode someone dies, and they don't seem to show that they care too much bout auxillery characters. The art is good, the scenries almost look like real world scenarios, and the characters are well drawn. I can only hope they even out the pacing and work on some things (like actually caring that the characters die!). 


Yuru Yuri ♪♪

Like Dog Days, Yuru Yuri also received a sequel. WhileI was more thrilled about this sequel being announced, in the actual series, I feel let down a bit. While we still mainly follow our main four characters, it seems that there is a different feel this season. Maybe it's due to the fact we are seeing more of the the side characters, such as Himawari and Sakurako, or maybe it's the fact they seem to be leaving out Akari a lot more than usual.

The art for this series is as good as the last season. One thing that was a let down for me was the opening and ending themes. In the last season, I could barely get the song out of my head, and this season, I barely notice them honestly.
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All in all, I feel like this season has it extreme good points and the extreme bad points. However next season should not be a let down, and I look forward for more anime to come

I have to thank Mike for watching Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai and Brendan for watching Sword Art Online with me. 

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

When people are in a pinch, they do desperate things. Some file for bankruptcy, some take out massive loans, and some decide to open up a business. When Recette Lemongrass , a young girl who lives at home by her self after her father went on adventure, is faced with his debt, she decides t open a shop with the faerie loan shark, Tear, who is in charge of the debt in order to help pay it back. Recette, Tear, and their adventurer, Louie, a poor young boy, go through dungeons to collect items to sell for profit in the shop.

The story is simple, and in fact a bit too unrealistic. Ignoring the fact there is a faerie and dungeons to go through to get free items, just the circumstances are just bit too unrealistic. Recette is does not appear to be a legal an adult, and it seems a bit too unfair for her to be paying back her father's debt. Another problem I have with the story is the fact it just seems to be capitalism propaganda, even to the point of Recette saying "Captialism, ho!" I feel like if it was less centered on capitalism and paying her father's debt, then the story would succeed more in the catagory it was meant for: Fantasy.

The characters in mind are just flat as flat can be. Recette is your typical cheery girl in poor circumstances girl. The only time she shows an emotion other than ridiculously cheery is when she gets a bit down over a bad sale, and eve then, she quickly recovers. Tear is this emotionless business woman, fitting into the stereotype so badly. The other characters barely appear in the game, but even they fit into a stereotype. Aloutte, Recette's competition is a typical rich girl, and she even has a few tsundere traits.

The art work for this game is good and bad, depending on which part you're at. The upclose drawings of the characters are nicely detailed and look like anime characters. To be honest, that is what drew me into the game. However, the over world sprites were just just little chibis. Honestly, if they were a little bit better drawn, then the art for the game could have been amazing

Overall, even though I may complain about the game, I honestly enjoyed it. Yes, I nit pick at it to no end, but to be honest, it was a short indie game that I came across on Steam. The voice acting is actually in Japanese, which won me over a bit more, but the English translations could have been a bit better. All in all, this is a good game, and highly recommend it to any J-RPG player.

Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan

Bread is a staple of life for most parts of the world. It can feed many, it can give us energy in order to carry out everyday tasks, and it can even make someones day. However, baking the bread might become a coping mechanism into order to deal with certain illnesses, such as lost memories. In the case of Shining Hearts: Shiwase no Pan, bread and the making of it becomes an escape for Rick and his fellow companions in the bread shop.

The story was proposed to be about Kaguya, a young girl who washed up on shore with no memories, and Rick and his fellow companions find her and take her in. They go about their regular duties, keeping an eye on Kaguya, making bread for her, and those in the community. However, as it turns out, Kaguya is no the first person to wash up on shore with no memories, and the quest to find the answers begins.

Sounds epic, right? Wrong. The story is actually more about Rick and his companions, Airy, Neris, and Amile, making bread for those around them, and when it seems there is any break through behind the characters or the story, they just go back to making bread. If they stuck more to the mystery to why so many people washed up on shore, with no memories, then this anime would be epic. Instead, they brush off that and just focus on making people happy with bread. 

The characters were very weak for an nime that tried to focus on the characters. Rick had so much potential to be a great "harem lead," but they pushed him to the side, and when he could have shone, they didn't really do anything with it. The girls at the shop were so bland that they didn't even have a stereotype such as a tsundere or library girl, they were just there. Kaguya was proposed to be the center piece of the anime, but she was relegated to a minor roe. Xiao Mei was almost this shows saving grace, but she was pushed to the side once again.

The art and music was the best part of this anime to be honest. The art was fluid, and the characters were artistically distinguishable, but only artistically. The backgrounds were also well designed, and everything was vibrant in color. The opening theme was slow, and made me feel like the theme of lost memories could be prevalent, but it was also mello and relaxing. The end theme was actually pretty good, even though it was about baking bread. It had an upbeat tune, and very, very catchy.

Overall, I say avoid this anime like the plague unless you just want to watch making bread and them making people happy. It has a lot of potential, but the execution of it is poor. I do realize it is based off a game, but even then, they could have done a lot more with this anime.  

Ao no Exorcist

The belief of demons exists universally through almost every culture and many, if not all religions. They are portrayed as trouble makers, and they even portray straying from the path of righteousness. There has also has been a need to get rid of, or exercise, these demons by people called exorcists. Ao no Exorcist incorporates both of these devices, and sometimes, the line between good and evil is hardly distinguishable.

Our story follows Okumura Rin, the son of a priest and an exorcist, and his twin brother Yukio. However, it turns that out that Rin is the bastard son of Satan himself. But when Rin finds this out, he does not join Satan, but rather decides to become an exorcist in order to defeat Satan in order to live up to his adoptive father's expectations. After deciding to become an exorcist, he then goes to a school for exorcists and while there, strange events one after another happen, and Rin discovers the truth behind what it means to be an exorcist.

The story's premise is a unique one, if not partially controversial among the Christian community. The son of Satan in the Christian community would of course be put to death immediately, but in the story line, he is portrayed as a hero. Personally, I liked the unique spin on the whole issue, and they handled the the ostracizing of Rin from the community very well. The story also held my attention for all of the twenty-five episodes, and I wish there was a second season to expand on the story.

The characters were enjoyable to watch because in some ways, most people can relate to Rin in the fact that he was not accepted by the community, and he had a perfect little brother that everyone adored. By the end of the story, the ones you would be expecting to root for, the church, ended up to be the jerks who wanted to ruin everything, and somehow, they made Satan sympathetic, and weird as that sounds, they managed to do it in a way that made sense. The students at the school were also relatable, and they were there for their own purposes, though I wish they could have been expanded. One character I wish they gave more attention to is Mephisto, the schools head. He looks like he has an interesting background, and a story to tell.

Theart for this series was well done in my mind. The transformation that Rin under goes when he goes into the blue flame more is awesome, though sometimes his ears stays a bit pointy while as a human. The character designs were each distinguishable, and the back grounds and sceneries were well done.

Overall, I wish this anime was a bit longer, or a second season focusing more on the other characters, and definitely Yukio. Granted,, there is a movie coming out, I doubt that will do the justice I need. Other than that, this anime was amazing in my eyes. I honestly could not stop watching it, and although some stuff was not clearly explained, the other parts of this anime were done well enough to where I can forgive that.

Upotte!!

Although guns might not be the most modern invention, they have been the most crucial to modern warfare. They can take down armies with out them, and even armies that have guns, the ones with the more powerful guns win. Now, imagine of the most used guns of a country were made into girls. You have to wonder how would they act, if they would all be aggressive since the nature of using a gun usually is, or how relaxed would they be. Upotte answers that question, and even provides some insight on the specs of the gun.

The story for Upotte!! is almost slice of life, except the girls are going to a school for assault riffles, and the after school activities revolving around target practice and the such. There is the arc of the tag team battles, which revolves around teams of two going out and trying to win the competition and the arc with the school trip. Both arcs were surperb, but I wish they went a bit further with the anime story wise, so we could meet more of the guns of the world.

The characters were the highlight of this anime, due to the fact they were all assault riffles, such as the M16A1 from America, whom they called Ichiroku (Lit. one, six) and F.N.C or Funko, from Belgium. Also in the main cast was SIG550, or Shigu, from Switzerland, and L85A1, or Eru, from England. True, there are other guns in the cast, such as the M14 and the AK47, but these guns don't play as big of a role in the anime as the four main guns. These girls have distinct personalities based on not only how the gun works, but also where they come from as well. For example, the M16 tires out quickly on cleaning duty due to the fact she has a three round burst, and she has to keep her self in order due to the fact that if the M16 has the slightest little problem, it will jam, but also she is loud mouthed like the stereo types for America. The L85 gets sick a lot due to the fact it is not a sturdy gun and the magazine will fall out sometimes.

The art for this anime was actually pretty good. It had some elements of the moe-blobstyle, but also the girls had well defined features. The guns that the girls were able to with draw looked very similar to the real life guns to even the point they were identifiable. The girls them selfs were drawn a bit rounded and shapely but for this anime it worked.

Overall, I liked this anime due the Hetalia like nature of it, although it was bishounsn but rather girls. Although it was aimed at military otaku as well those fans of moe. I recomend this to everyone and I will be the first to admit thatI learned a bit about guns from this anime, such as the M16 has a three round burst and the SIG550 was a long distance assault riffle. It's a good, comedical way to learn about guns and how they work.

Also would like to thank my gun fanatic friend for watching this with me :D