flaze

Most recently completed anime: Girls und Panzer

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this. I avoided this anime for a while, thinking it would be another typical moe, slice of life show, with the ridiculous concept of driving tanks for sport crammed in. In some ways that is what I saw. But I also found the battle scenes to be dramatic and interesting at times. I found myself enjoying the story, as ridiculous as it had seemed at first.

About me:

I'm an anime fan with a slightly longer than normal bio, who enjoys reviewing and talking about anime and writing fanfics.

I know I'm not a well known reviewer or anything, but if you're curious about an anime and I've watched or am watching it, feel free to ask me. I enjoy talking about anime. I'll write a review for it or give a detailed answer on your profile (specify which).

I pretty much watch any anime, except for yaoi. My favorite anime is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I check out anime regardless of premise, genre (yaoi is exception), or age.

Most of my friends (IRL) that watch anime refuse venture outside their favorite genre, to my dismay. Two friends don't watch anime unless it has romance in it. Another doesn't watch unless it is fast paced. Another only watches action. Another only reads/watches mainstream (the one I'm most frustrated with). I do have a few friends who watch more than a single genre, but even they tend to judge anime by its synopsis. 95% of my friends (who watch anime) are casual anime fans. 5% (maybe less) are hardcore.

Top Three Favorite Anime:

1st: Neon Genesis Evangelion 2nd: Strike Witches 3rd: Kaleido Star

About my reviews:

When I review a show, I will review it for value and quality, not entertainment. There is a difference. When I enjoy a show, I think "Oh, that was a cool/fun story," and move onto the next show. When I watch a show that is truly meaningful, I sit back after finishing it and think "Wow, that was profound/amazing." Entertaining anime have a story that draws in the viewer, and manipulates his/her emotions as appropriate. Quality anime take it a step further, and have relatable characters, have solid stories, don't have deus ex machinas, don't overuse cliches, don't have Mary Sues, and possess life applicable themes. Many anime can qualify as entertaining, but fewer can be considered to have value. Therefore, I review based on an anime's value. Also, I doubt I will ever rate an anime 10/10, because I don't believe in perfection. If you have a show that you think is 10/10, tell me about it, I will check it out, and I will review it.

TL;DR: Entertaining anime must be interesting. Quality anime must be interesting and have meaning. I review based on how much meaning an anime has.

So far, I've only allowed three anime (that I'd normally rate below a 6) to override my objectivity. Those are: Strike Witches, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Girls und Panzer. The Strike Witches movie review I did was extremely biased, and any other reviews of these three series would likely be heavily biased as well.

About my ratings:

My ratings for anime on my watched list will be based on entertainement.

Below is a history of my anime viewing.

I seriously doubt anyone will read this, and if somebody does, then congratulations, your patience and attention span are amazing.

2000-2007

I started watching anime back in 2000. The first anime I ever watched was called Chibi Maruko. I moved on to other kid's anime like Doraemon and Shin-chan (Japanese voices, not the English one, which ruined the entire series because they practically rewrote the entire script). I also watched almost anything from Studio Ghibli and Pokemon. Around 2003, I started watching Naruto. Then, I began watching whatever was on Cartoon Network's Toonami. That included Yugioh, Zatch Bell, Dragon Ball Z, Bobobobobo (idk how to spell it), and various other shows that I can't remember. I don't list those on my watched list because I can't remember how many episodes I watched. Around 2007, I started to get into anime, and began streaming them online. The first anime I ever completed was Inuyasha (English dubbed version). Then, for a year, I didn't watch anime.

2009

In the summer of 2009, I finished Major. After that (fall of 2009), a few of my friends introduced me to a variety of anime, ranging from Clannad, Kanon, and Angel Beats to Gundam, Tengen Toppa Guren Lagann, Code Geass, and Full Metal Panic, and from there to Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima. All of these, I finished (what was available anyway; SnS and ZnT only had 2 out at that point) by the end of that year.

2010

In 2010, I finished Inuyasha The Final Act. From there, I began googling questions like "Anime similar to Clannad" and thus, I found myself watching less than famous anime that even my friends hadn't heard of, such as Myself; Yourself, H20 Footprints in the Sand (wtf does "Footprints in the Sand" have to do with the story anyway?), Special A, Chobits, Moshidora, and Cross Game. I also stumbled upon some well known anime that my friends hadn't recommended either because they didn't care for them or didn't know them, like Neon Genesis Evangelion (which is my #1 favorite), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Elfen Lied, Fruits Basket, Lucky Star, Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn, K-On, School Days, and Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

2011

I soon began to run out of anime that interested me. However, I realized that many of the anime I'd watched could be classified into a few genres. Therefore, I decided to watch anime in other genres. Thus I decided to watch Shoujo (Shuugo Chara), Mahou Shoujo (Sailor Moon), and other anime that I'd never considered watching (Sky Girls and Strike Witches). Even after watching a few anime outside my preference, I still began to get bored. I was resorting to one cour, visual novel adaptations like Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi and Maishiroiro Symphony. Everything started to feel boring, with nothing especially unique coming out. It was moe and fanservice left and right. I began watching Bleach, because Naruto Shippuden was stalling so much at this point. I also had a Detective Conan marathon that summer.

2012

Once in a while, I found something that caught my interest, like Gosick, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Spice and Wolf, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Chuuniboyu Demo Koi ga Shitai, and The IDOLM@STER, but in the end, none of them impressed me like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Code Geass, and Clannad. I'm not saying those are perfect (well except for NGE, which I consider to be .0000000000000001 percent off of perfect), but they are much better than recent stuff. In the summer of 2012, I had a mainstream marathon, in which I watched every existing episode of One Piece and Fairy Tail available at that time. One Piece took a ridiculously long time to catch up, but I did it within 2 months. I then decided to stop procrastinating and watch an anime I'd been putting off: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which I don't regret watching at all. Then, I got into the Yuri genre, an genre I'd been avoiding for years. I will NEVER get into yaoi, but yuri isn't too bad. I watched Strawberry Panic and Maria Sama ga Miteru (all four seasons) within a month.

2013

Now I read about what's expected to come out, and what is already showing, and there isn't much that stands out. Oreshura is something I intend to get to at some point, but it doesn't seem that special. It'll likely be at best a time killer. Love Live! School Idol Project is okay but the story is cheesy (and I don't care for the animation style; Sunrise should stick to what they animate best: robots). Vividred Operation has absolutely no value at all, but being a fan of the director (Strike Witches fanboy here), I am watching it. It's not as good as Strike Witches but for now I'm satisfied. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is interesting, but the pacing can be frustrating at times. Tamako Market is boring, but I watch it (that sounds contracdictory, but it's true. I'm just watching it to be watching something.). Sword Art Online turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments ever. Little Busters is also a bit disappointing for me (I would explain but that would spoil stuff). Haganai NEXT is okay, but overall I'm not very impressed with the story (too much fanservice and poor quality humor; difficult to take serious scenes seriously). Bakuman is basically the only thing I really look foward to every week. (I have to admit I'm a little disappointed with Bakuman as well. They skipped a lot of the manga.) 

This year, I finished Kaleido Star, a dramatic slice of life/shoujo anime that I recommend to everyone (note: the only negative is that it starts off with a small possibility of romance, which is pretty much gone by the second half/season). I also finished the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series (lasers and explosions :D), both seasons of Dog Days (not my cup of tea), Haganai season 1 (meh), Campione (could have been good, but crap), Nakaimo (terrible), and Yuri Yuri (not bad, not good).

Future

I am looking forward to Oreimo season two. I am hoping for a Strike Witches season 3. I am looking highly anticipaing the last NGE Rebuild movie. I am hoping for a remake of Angel Beats (probably won't happen). I would welcome a season 2 or prequel (or both) of Angel Beats. I would welcome a season two of Infinite Stratos (probably won't happen). I want a season three of Spice and Wolf (again probably won't happen). I am looking forward to Higurashi: Daybreak (idk if it's an OVA, movie, series, or what but whatever it is, I will watch it). Little Busters better have a season 2. I will probably watch the second season of Nyarko-san. The same applies to Seitokai no Ichizon. I am looking forward to KamiNomi S3. I want to see the Mouretsu Pirates movie. I want to see the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movies. I don't think there should be a second season like the director hinted at though...I wish Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece would hurry up and end already. By my estimate, Bleach will take another two years, and Naruto, three. One Piece is apparently only half way done. -_- And finally, I don't want another season of Sword Art Online. Reason: I will inevitably watch it because I read the light novels, and the quality of the anime wil likely be similar to the first season.