LinkSword

When this anime was first announced, I didn't know what to expect from it, exactly. Brains-Base is a studio that as of late has been doing superb romcoms (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) and vomit-inducing terrible reverse harems (Amnesia). More importantly, the ''loner protagonist'' theme is used more than it may seem at first, but often just as a schtick for comedic relief and/or an excuse for yet another average romance/school-life anime with a naïve pretension of being different. So, was that the case for Yahari? Absolutely not. Granted, the first episode gave... See full review

I loved this show about as much as I was expecting (which is in fact kind of surprising). At times it felt like a sophisticated, insightful Kino's Journey focused on economy in the different cities, and other times I felt like watching a traditional version of Kaiji, full of intrigue, plotting and a constant search for profit in the most effective way. Were it either of them, or both, every moment of the show was enjoyable and the freshness of the concept very much helped to it.

I also liked the fact that this didn't have such an episodic structure as the aforementioned Kino's Journey, but instead a... See full review

So recently I stumbled upon Pandora Hearts, an anime I had meant to watch for a while but in the end I never began until now. And the experience was actually more than satistying.   Story (8/10): It's a fact that a lot of people hate shonen anime and the sole appearance of a ''shonen'' tag puts them aback from many series. It's also true that most shonen, due to their main demographic target, won't develop very deeply interesting themes of all sorts and will just scratch their surface - after all, that's good enough for young people. But what about it? As long as you have an intriguing, appealing... See full review

I don't get all the people saying this season was worse than the first. That season started off moderately good with Index's arc (3.5/5) only to get somewhat worse in Himegami's actually pointless arc (3/5), later followed by the body-swapping arc which was nothing special (3+/5) and a nearly terrible four-episode arc to wrap it up about an overly trashy character I don't give half a fuck about, Kazakiri Hyouka (2.5--/5). Basically the only great things about that season were the Misaka/MISAKA's/Accelerator arc in the middle (4-/5) and the little two-ep installment introducing Last Order and developing... See full review

Everyone who knows my tastes slightly well knows that I'm all for sad/tragic/depressing/bitter/dark stories, and Jigoku Shoujo excels at this. I remember myself being somewhat bored through some of the episodic plots in the first season, but in this second part I really liked most of them, and even the lesser graceful ones were good. It's a fact that my love for dark stuff has grown along the years so that may have some influence... but it's not like I didn't enjoy these kinds of stories back then in 2006/07, when I watched the first season. I've never been a fan of shows that pretend to be serious but... See full review

Here lies the proof that fanservice doesn't necessarily ruin every anime it pops up in as long as the show itself has something going for it. On the surface, TamNM looks like your everyday, run-off-the-mill generic ecchi fare. On the inside, it still is typical ecchi material, but with important differences which make it an enjoyable ride instead of the usual unnerving experience that garbage like Ladies vs Butlers or Akikan are to me. Let's start with what it does not do. To begin with, it does not take itself too seriously, nor does it try too hard to pull comedy like other ecchi shows do. Humor is... See full review

I don't know about this anime. It had the potential to be something great in every sense of the word, yet it put up with excelling only in being, as everyone says, ''fabulous''.

For me the biggest highlight in Star Driver were the dynamics between the protagonist trio: Takuto, Wako and Sugata. I really enjoyed these three characters as the show went on and ever since the beginning they left a good impression (for example, seeing Sugata's appearance I would have thought he'd be the usual emo stoic dick whereas he was none of the sort) and they grew on me more than anyone else. The rest of the people... See full review

While technically not the worst anime to come out this season by a long shot, it was easily the most boring to watch. It's extremely slow and mellow to a fault. The segments supposed to be touching scenes, decisive alliances or meaningful climaxes feel like any other average, uneventful conversation between characters in a relaxed moment of an anime arc.
Red Data Girl starts off with an interesting premise enveloped in mystery and subtle hints, and a promise at a compelling coming of age story for characters in less than ideal family situations. The problem is, it doesn't really do anything... See full review

I'll start by saying I've played the Devil Survivor 2 game, and I am a pretty huge fan of both it and its ''prequel''. Both have a grim, increasingly complicated plot, compelling characters you grow to care about, intense battles and plenty of relevant choices to make until you reach one of the final destinations. And out of the two, in many ways I like the second better, and I was looking forward to this adaptation very much. It isn't really a game that is hard to translate into a TV series (very story-ridden, brimming with action...), and since most people had positive feedback for  Persona 4: The... See full review

I'll say this first: I didn't hate Grappler Baki, nor did I enjoy it very much. Nevertheless, it's a really flawed series and I feel like ranting. Story (5.5/10): ''There is not going to be much to say about it'' - this thought crossed my mind as I finished Baki's first episode. And I was obviously right. Do not by any means expect anything original. It is your typical, average story about a buffed up brat whose dream is to be the strongest man in the world. In order to attain so, he pushes himself through over-the-top training, life-or-death situations or brawls against a hundred thugs, a 2.5 meters... See full review

When this anime was first announced, I called it: having read the synopsis, I thought it sounded ridiculous (non-cuttable hair... most pointless/innocuous curse ever?), and it seemed just a new excuse for a run-of-the-mill action seinen (which feels totally like a shonen) with a pretension of high stakes and mature content. Then the show started airing, and it proved me right. First, I'll say that the premise is not original: guy with a strange fetish (Kiri) gets 'mysterious', fetish-fulfilling girl (Iwai) out of confinement and protects her from those who get in the way of their relationship... See full review

Ahh, the ecchi harem genre. It's no secret how much I ''love'' it (see my Bottom Five anime), but from time to time there comes a show which, while far from great, succeeds at winning me over with cool action, likeable characters, a decent sense of humor, and an at least passable storyline, despite the ridiculousness and exploitation so typical in these anime. Oh hey, speaking of the devil...
So, does Date a Live qualify? Well, no.
To begin with, the storyline. There's a premise about some extraterrestrial beings, Spirits, coming down to Earth and causing... See full review

... Dear God, what the hell was this? I thought the action shonen genre had reached its bottom level with the embodiment of cheesiness that is Flame of Recca, but this show proved to be in a whole new league of its own. It's easy for an anime to be bad or even awful, but... to always manage to get even worse over the course of 64 episodes? Now that's more rare - in a terrible way. It's impossible to convey just how impressively bad I think Shaman King is, but I'll do my best to explain its sheer retardedness in a few hateful, ranty paragraphs. For starters, the condensed version: And now the long... See full review

Let's think of the anime world as a huge well, with all the masterpieces and good series at the top of it. Now let's take a look at the lower levels: there are many bad shows in there. Plot is bland, animation looks bad, music and/or voice acting are unremarkable and characters are boringly one-dimensional. Then, there are shows that multiply these traits to the umpteenth and are deemed terrible by nearly everyone. Even more down the well, pretty much at the bottom, we have obscure crap no person would ever recommend to even their worst enemy, and amongst this pile of turds there are special kinds of... See full review