What I just finished watching/reading and what I thought about it

[Nicο]

[b]Joshiraku[/b]
If there was ever a fourth wall they would have never said things like asking why this dialogue heavy manga with little action that spends most of it's time having it's setting being inside the dressing room became an anime. Why wouldn't I think it's hilarious? They repeatedly made it known while I was watching that that was the last episode. Though if you don't know too much about Japan you won't understand a lot of it and you'll probably think it's really boring. I knew quite a lot of what was said and yet not too much at all at the same time. Dialogue heavy, yup. I love the references though, in the same 10 seconds they actually mentioned MLP and Toonami... yeah. Well, that's what I thought.

[Fusion X. Denver]

[b]Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions![/b]

That was a pretty fun watch. You've got a good cast with unconventional aspects sprinkled into their personalities so you're met with some familiarity of other slice of life's while still feeling refreshing at the same time. Yuuta and Rikka made for intriguing leads
[spoiler=and]
are one of my well-deserved OTPs[/spoiler]
And the theme really resonates with me. It's important to still retain your inner child as you grow up, even if it's subsided to the rest of your maturation and experiences.

Give this a try, well worth your time.
[b]4.5/5[/b]

[King of Games]

[quote name='Fusion X. Denver' timestamp='1355958599' post='6098438']
[b]Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions![/b]

That was a pretty fun watch. You've got a good cast with unconventional aspects sprinkled into their personalities so you're met with some familiarity of other slice of life's while still feeling refreshing at the same time. Yuuta and Rikka made for intriguing leads
[spoiler=and]
are one of my well-deserved OTPs[/spoiler]
And the theme really resonates with me. It's important to still retain your inner child as you grow up, even if it's subsided to the rest of your maturation and experiences.

Give this a try, well worth your time.
[b]4.5/5[/b]
[/quote]

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9O1TMJyhmw"]The only thing i can think when i think of this show:[/url]

It is in my mind, and now it is in yours too.

[Nicο]

I guess, but it just doesn't seem like it'll be on my mind any longer than tonight. =o


[quote name='Fusion X. Denver' timestamp='1355958599' post='6098438']
[b]Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions![/b]

That was a pretty fun watch. You've got a good cast with unconventional aspects sprinkled into their personalities so you're met with some familiarity of other slice of life's while still feeling refreshing at the same time. Yuuta and Rikka made for intriguing leads
[spoiler=and]
are one of my well-deserved OTPs[/spoiler]
And the theme really resonates with me. It's important to still retain your inner child as you grow up, even if it's subsided to the rest of your maturation and experiences.

Give this a try, well worth your time.
[b]4.5/5[/b]
[/quote]Agree with all of that.



[b]Hayate no Gotoku! Can't Take My Eyes Off You[/b]
I seriously don't get it. I find this to be practically the same as anything else Hayate, except of course the art (Well not really, the manga has very similar art right now). It has mostly original content, the same could be said for season 1. It is a shorter anime than the other Hayate anime, the same could be said about season 2. It brought with it some good laughs, even though other people don't seem to be having the same reaction, but otherwise, it actually does seem to have a great deal of similarity to everything else Hayate, and I really enjoyed it.

[Shradow]

Having recently rewatched this in English dub...

[b]Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt[/b]

Simply put, it's the most f***** up anime I've ever seen.

And it's great. I applaud Gainax for making yet another far from normal anime that's still good and entertaining. The humor is vulgar and nonsensical, but it's still humor. It's unique animation is nice as well, even if it's not your standard anime fare. A shame it's so short, though, but I can only hope they make a season 2 someday.

[Astro Dude]

[quote name='Dr. Cakey Arclight' timestamp='1348343170' post='6029811']
[b]Medaka Box[/b]
Medaka Box is definitely a thing. I'd say you'll either love it or hate it, but I did neither. I'm pretty much 100% neutral on it. Unlike Accel World, it has already been marked for a second season (not sure if it will be airing in the fall season or later). While told from the perspective of another character, it is [i]about[/i] Medaka Kurokami, student council president of Sandbox Academy (more about the name in a moment. EDIT: And by in a moment, I mean NEVER, loser), who is smarter, stronger, faster than everyone else and generally speaking beyond superhuman. This is generally the point of the entire show. 98% of it is her solving problems of varying degrees of solvability and/or converting evil people to righteousness through her "pretentious appeal to innate goodness".

...the other 2% is a psychotic, semi-philosophical battle analyzing what it actually means to be Medaka Kurokami. Also Romi Park voices the villain.

And boobies. Did I mention Gainax made this show?
[/quote]

There's a season two called Medaka Box Abnormal and the final episode is this friday. Check it out sometime.

[Dr. Cakey]

I recently finished watching[b] A Certain Scientific Railgun[/b] and [b]Star Driver[/b]. I'm not exactly sure what I think of either of them. They were definitely okay, at least. Railgun might have been bad. 24 episodes was too many, I'm sure of that.

Yeah, that's all I've got.

[quote name='Astro Dude' timestamp='1356281302' post='6100043']
There's a season two called Medaka Box Abnormal and the final episode is this friday. Check it out sometime.
[/quote]
It's on my to-do list. Just gotta finish one or two other shows first to make room.

[Astro Dude]

My turn:

[b]Teekyuu[/b]
Hilarious though each episode is only two minutes long. It follows four girls, Kanae the whacko, Nasuno the rich girl, Marimo the freak and Yuri the normal one as they form a tennis club and get into comical situations that break the fabric of reality. Kanae can split herself in two, Marimo sniffs girls panties, Nasuno threatens the weatherman to give a report of sunny weather even though it's raining and Yuri is the only one who knows how to play tennis. Final episode, season 2, in the works.

[Fusion X. Denver]

[b]Sword Art Online[/b]

Solid shonen overall. I would've liked to see more action out of it, but I was never bored throughout the show and I always watched it first amongst my Saturday animes. Sometimes things didn't make sense, but the show's had awesome moments and it all led up to a satisfying end. Here's hoping for a 2nd season.

[b]4/5[/b]

[b]Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse[/b]

The series is basically a below-average mecha, but it does have its moments. I think it could have been better if it was handled more efficiently, but fact is it wasn't. The only existing character development was in the two leads and Cryska, the rest of the cast is pretty static. And the entire series was basically filler, what little semblance of a plot there was in the first few episodes was quickly abandoned up until the last batch of episodes where they had to make a recap episode to remind everyone what the plot was and then work from there. And even then, some things don't really make much sense.
This needs a 2nd season to properly explain things and give a more proper ending and I'll probably end up watching it, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

[b]2.5/5[/b]

[Blake]

[b]Persona 4 the Animation[/b]

I've never played any of the Megami Tensei games, but something about this anime drew me to it. With the exception of a few unexplained things (Like the contract used for the Velvet Room, and who the Velvet Room serves), the plot was consistent throughout. The characters were mostly well developed by the end and actually drew your attention. The battles can be a bit confusing because so much is going on, but you can get the gist of it, and you actually understand the battle system somewhat by the end. The story is even set up to flesh out characters when they first appear, some of which getting this better than others.

By the end, I was heavily invested in seeing its finale, so I'd definitely reccomend it, even to people who don't know what aMegami Tensei or Persona are.

[b]Eden of the East[/b]

I... previously gave a long rant on this, but I'mma keep it short and sweet. There are lots of events that require extreme suspension of disbelief and/or Word of God or some other external source to make sense. None of the characters, sans the lead male and a character that dies but not really and ruins them, are even anything noteworthy. They aren't cute, attention drawing, or even likeable in most cases. They just ARE. The plot was weird, and while there was an answer, there were also just so much weirdness behind everything that it just required you to throw away all thoughts of reality to believe it. Even the romance involved is severely lacking.

It wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone.

[Proto]

[b]Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai![/b]

Pretty much like the only thing I ended up watching this season.

It was.. actually really good, but my anime knowledge is both really unexperienced and really rusty at the same time.

Sanae's the best, all others are inferior.

Despite being sorta awkward in certain scenes, I liked it overall.

4/5

[Fusion X. Denver]

[b]My Little Monster[/b]

What a stupendous rom-com. This series has so much charm in it, its soundtrack, the lighthearted tones, and especially the characters. Such subtlety and little exposition involved with development and it all plays out beautifully. Haru's such a fun, dynamic lead and Shizuku stands out a bit amongst typical distant and stoic studiers. They play each off each other well and the whole series manages to feel fresh for most of the episodes. And this goes against cliches in interesting ways.
I'd recommend this to anyone. I hope the manga gets further ahead so a 2nd season can come in the future.

[b]4.75/5[/b]

Forgot to add this from a few days ago.
[b]Btooom![/b]

This anime just wasn't handled well. The premise had lots of potential and the characters could have worked well if they weren't poorly written. The leads act naive and stupidly for plot convenience when it just plain doesn't feel natural. And there are several scenes with unreasonable explanations as to how they occurred. The "fights" were at least a little entertaining to watch, and there were some entertaining moments, but definitely nothing above average quality. And the ending's ultimately unsatisfying as the manga's ongoing; I doubt there'll be a 2nd season.
I wouldn't go out of your way to see this one, though I would recommend you go download the awesome openings.

[b]2.5/5[/b]

[King of Games]

[b]Chrono Crusade[/b]

Was watching this instead of my Secret Santa anime ^^;
This was a interesting one. Started with a monster of the week type plot with a good dose of comedy and the rare fanservice shot, but gradually became a serious and compelling story. The relationship between Rosette and Chrono being the highlight. And a bit of good payoff in the final episode, if a bit of a downer.
The dub does show it's age tho and was a bit distracting at times(Like whenever Azmaria spoke). And it took a few tries to slog through the first few episodes.
but a worthwhile experience over all.

[Nicο]

[b]Kyousougiga um, can I say 2?[/b]
5 episodes of about 10 minutes each. We can definitely say it was less hectic than that 1 OVA, and added some much needed depth, but considering how short it was, I don't think it was too much. I want that song. From the last episode.

[Fusion X. Denver]

[b]Charcoal Feather Foundation (Haibane Renmei)[/b]

Haibane Renmei has a subtle, mysterious charm to it. It has a very subdued atmosphere for the most part save for a few dramatic moments that play very well in contrast with and against the overall tone (if that makes sense).
Some things may not make sense to people though. I myself feel I may have missed some things in subtext, but I was still able to appreciate the overall themes and metaphors used throughout the anime. Rakka and Reki also lead the story along well, though no one else in the cast particularly stands out.
[spoiler=some spoilers]
The Haibane Renmei is never fully explained and neither are the circumstances surrounding the premise such as why there are Haibane to begin with, what exactly makes the Toga so special (though I believe their true nature was implied along with the Communicator's), but some could argue that the vagueness fits well. As for me, I'm left wanting to know some more, but not desperately so that it knocks my overall enjoyment of the story.
[/spoiler]
Overall, Haibane Renmei is a solid series that works well with its premise and for what it is, though it definitely isn't for everyone. Some might be put off by its slow pacing (even I'm guilty with switching between tabs a little more than I should have) and the lack of attention-seeking drives like action or comedy to pull the viewer in. But if you can look past that, I'd say give this a watch.

[b]3.75/5[/b]

(that review was a little longer than my usual length because it was for a Secret Santa event on another site)

[Dr. Cakey]

[b]Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie(s): Beginnings & Eternal ("The Beginning Story" & "The Eternal Story")[/b]
Beginnings and Eternal are the two [i]Madoka Magica[/i] movies, and serve to recap the show - which I hopefully don't have to tell anyone was one of the best anime of 2011 and possibly the decade. So the question isn't are the movies good, but rather if they stack up to the series?

The answer is, on the whole, no.

12 episodes = 4 hours, which is the same as two movies, so theoretically the movies could have been made while cutting no content (well, almost no content). However, [i]Madoka Magica[/i] doesn't split evenly into six episode pairs, so the first movie instead recaps the first [i]nine[/i] episodes, leaving 10-12 for Eternal. As a result, the first movie runs long and the second runs short. Even so, Beginnings is forced to cut 50 minutes of content from the show. I'm not saying they made a mistake - splitting the movies here was the correct decision. But Madoka Magica, being only 12 episodes long, is compressed enough that some of that content can't be lost without weakening the story.

On the plus side, all the visuals have gotten a fine polish, bringing them up to movie quality. No more of the off-model shenanigans that plague TV series. But because we can't have nice things, things are lost as well as gained even here. In the series, many backgrounds were redrawn between the original TV broadcast and the Blu-ray release (if you watch the series on Crunchyroll, Hulu, etc. you're watching the BD version). Backgrounds have been redrawn, and in many cases re-redrawn, for the movies as well, and the stacked changes can feel a touch...odd. If things got any more ornate and abstract we'd be crossing into Bakemonogatari levels of strange. It's not my cup of tea, but that's pretty subjective. Less subjective is that the movies seem to use a much more static camera than the series. The series makes good use of varying shots and, in particular, utilizing disconcerting jump cuts during dialogue to keep things interesting (and unsettling). The movie reduces usage of these. In particular, one scene from episode eight combines both of these. It features a redesigned fountain complete with laser light show, and spends what feels like half the scene cutting back to the same wide angle shot because they worked really hard drawing that fountain, dammit!

There is one really bizarre visual thing which I think is an enormous problem. Kyubey is of course legendary for his demonic Stepford Smile. 75% of the time, he maintains this visage in the movie. But just about 20% of the time, maybe even less, the upcurl of his smile is chopped off so it forms a shape closer to what a cat's closed mouth actually looks like, rather than the exaggerated :3 we normally see. This 1) is inconsistent, and 2) looks awful as hell.

Okay, enough about that. This review summary thingy is ridiculously long as it is. In regards to the music, several new songs were supplied. Kalafina supplies a new version of Magia which sounds almost exactly like the old one (but why would you want it to be different?), a vocal cover of Credens Justiciam (Mami's theme) called "Mirai" which is divine, and the final credits music, "Hikari Furu", which is godly. ClariS gives us "Luminous", which sounds like "Connect" but different. As for the movie soundtrack itself, this is also a mixed bag. A lot, probably most, of the music is recycled from the show itself (but why would you want it to be different?). There's also several new tracks which are live rather than synth, which in theory sounds like it would be incredible. Unfortunately, it's not. They don't mesh with the music from the show at all, and also tend to overshadow that music, making Yuki Kajiura's extraordinary music sound weak by comparison despite being structurally superior. There's also one witch battle in particular where the music choice is simply appalling.

Does that cover everything? I think so. In summary, the movies were not bad by any means. They simply failed to entirely live up to the series. I think if they had been willing to make more new animation they could have done something original and intriguing, but instead all they did was copy+paste. I shouldn't have expected more than that.

P.S. Some screenings got a trailer for the third movie, The Rebellion Story, others did not. Mine did not. It may only have been shown in the first round of screenings, or there could be some other reason (like that the theater I went to sucked). You can find in-theater shaky-cam recordings of the trailer if you search for them - that's what I did. Looks like the movie could be amazing or dumb, depending on how things pan out.

EDIT: Minor correction. [i]Beginnings[/i] is a compilation of episodes 1-8, not 1-9. That reduces my count of the amount of cut content, and adds an episode to [i]Eternal[/i]. That doesn't actually change anything but...now you know.

[lechugas]

[size=4][b] [b]Another (Anime)- [/b][/b][/size][size=4][color=#000000]26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honors student who was also good at sports, the charming girl was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to that classroom, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures.[/color][/size]


[size=4][color=#000000]I personally liked this anime. It is a horror, mystery, drama anime. I finished watching it at the first day. It is really gets you curious as to what might happend and who will die next. The typical horror story. But it has some twists but not all are really that surprising. Comprises of 12 episodes, Another is a short but really mind boggling at times. I rate it.[/color][/size]

[size=5][b]3.[color=#000000]5/5[/color][/b][/size]

[Nicο]

[b]Code:Breaker[/b]

This turned out to be a decent show. What I said about the first episode really was "Code Breaker is hilarious.

By that, I mean I'm not sure I should continue watching it."

It is by no means supposed to be hilarious, and the scenes that were supposed to by funny were just awkward, but that got slightly better later on, I could have a few laughs and take the story seriously. I've grown to like some of the characters, mostly the Code:Breakers, but all 6 of them, instead of just Yuuki (I still mostly just care about him though).

[b]Kokoro Connect[/b]

I really had to wait to say even something about this, I tried right away, but I was just speechless. Even now I don't really have anything to say about it, but it might actually become one of my favorites. Oddly enough, I really like Taichi, and even though it is very unlikely, I really hope for a second season. Unless they already adapted all of it, what would I know. But I would hope for one even then, even though it wouldn't happen at all if that was the case.

[Fusion X. Denver]

[b]Kokoro Connect[/b]

This is one of the best character-driven animes I've ever seen. Lots of drama and bits of hilarity sprinkled here and there make this a compelling package to watch. I watched the last 4 episodes (which were delayed for a few months and were each 25-28 min long) in a row late at night when I had work in the morning because I couldn't resist jumping to the next one.
Sure it has its flaws, but I honestly can overlook them completely because the parts where I enjoyed myself more than compensated for it.
And I ended up loving all of the main 5, even if 2 were slightly underdeveloped compared to the other 3 (especially Aoki).
Anyone in the mood for a melodrama or something character-driven should look here.

[b]4.5/5[/b]

[b]Seitokai no Ichizon 2[/b]

This season was just like the last one, an entertaining episodic comedy that in no way takes itself seriously. All 5 members of the main cast continue to be lovable with their quirks and interactions. Not all of the humor was to my tastes, but overall it's an anime most people should be able to enjoy.

[b]4/5[/b]

[b]K[/b]

This anime looks great and its action sequences are top notch; it's just a shame we don't get more fights to show off how well they're executed. Unfortunately, 13 episodes proved to be a little constraining, as none of the characters are really well-rounded, not to mention it has a DRR-sized cast with only some of the characters receiving decent screentime. The finale wraps up everything nicely (at least for me it did) and has potential to benefit its story and characters with a 2nd season. The anime's a little shallow though, nothing complicated or deep to be found here. I might be a little generous in bumping up the score by .5, but I was never bored watching this and I can see this fleshing itself out more with more episodes.

[b]3.5/5[/b]

[b]Jormungand: Perfect Order[/b]

Not much to say about the anime as a whole, good enough cast to keep you entertained, but no one's particularly memorable sans Koko, Jonah and a few others sprinkled in. And the culmination of everything doesn't leave anyone satisfied. It was a decent timekiller, but I wouldn't go recommending this to anyone in particular.

[b]3/5[/b]

[Nicο]

Tsubasa: Chronicle

 

Well, uh, I can really say that I've never seen such good action (when it happens) with such a slow pace. Well, on occassion, no, it is a thing that can happen with Shounen face-offs, but it definitely feels different. Overall, I love the way things turned out, enough that it'll be in my top 10 for a while, even if the actual show's ending was bad at explaining things. Tokyo Revelations at least, on the other hand, was better in that regard, along with having better art, animation, and plot than that short "movie". But of course. Now to finish up the xxxHolic anime and hope to eventually read both manga.

 

That said,

 

xxxHOLiC: Manatsu no Yoru no Yume (movie)

 

Maybe because they were made by different studios or something, but I'm kind of sad that besides the beginning of Tsubasa, and when the occasional thing that is Yuuko and Black Mokona appearing, there was no connection of xxxHolic to Tsubasa within their actual TV shows. Maybe it was because it wasn't far enough, but I'm glad that the movies and OVAs are. The only other thing I have to say, is that Watanuki's misfortune is funnier than Touma's will ever be (imo).

 

 

 

And just wait! I just realized this is also for what I just read and well, I won't be the first, but I will be one of the first.

 

AKB48 Satsujin Jiken

 

I still don't know too much about the idols, but from what I've read before now, this manga does a very good job at portraying them as characters, and it's a nice little 9 chapter detective manga. I have no complaints about it, so it was good to me.

[Fusion X. Denver]

Chaos;Head

 

That anime wasn't very good. Characters fell flat, I never gave a damn for anyone on the show and it never gave you a reason to. And the plot made no sense, along with being riddled with asspulls. The villain is straight out of a bad kid's movie, the Di-Sword Girls felt like their presences were forced, and I have no idea exactly what went down during the finale.

Probably being generous with the score since it at least started out with some mystery and intrigue. Then it all got bogged down when it tried to have an intricate plot and it didn't work too well.

 

2/5

[Nicο]

This time I really just finished it! But whatever, here it goes:

 

Tayutama: Kiss on My Deity 

 

He totally missed Ameri's flag! He failed at it so hard! How came I blame him for being so dense when I've seen that happen so many times already, and I still like him. The protagonist of course. But oh well, of course it would go for the main heroine, and I must be really getting used to visual novel adaptions. Almost as sad as Mashiroiro, meaning, not nearly as sad as Clannad, but I still really enjoyed it.

[King of Games]

Welcome to the N.H.K.

 

Still as mildly depressing as ever. Hits a little close to home, personally (THIS IS YOU AND THAT IS SAD).

Voice Acting is top-notch, with really well placed f-bombs. 

Looks like sh*t where they ran outta budget. The imaginative scenes look good tho. And of course it's hilarious .

Most importantly it makes me feel for the characters and i can get a bit emotional while watching it.

 

Yeah, i'd say it's a favourite. 

[Nicο]

Sora no Otoshimono Forte
Hehe... I can easily say that I liked this as much as the first season. That is to say, it was quite awesome. Not much I really can say though.


Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart

Well, what can I say... I heard the sequels to Pretty Cure stuff were weaker, and I have to agree on that. I wasn't bored of the episodic/repetitiveness of the original, but this was stale for a large chunk of the middle. It got better around the end, and episodes 45 and 46 really show you the shounen-like action that Pretty Cure is known for. But it ultimately didn't matter, because Magical Girl series are all about those finishing moves. Also, "arienai". I still love how much that was used.

[Aix]

Steins;Gate

Awesome!!! It's really emotional and the ending was really nice! It was kinda slow-paced at first, but I didn't mind it too much. There were some other things, but overall, the series was still amazing.

5/5