mdchan

This was the first, and possibly the best, World Masterpiece Theater anime I've watched.  If you have to watch just one WMT anime, this should be the #1 pick. Story Taking place in 19th century Europe, young Romeo is looking forward to a competition in his small village when they are visited by a man known as the "God of Death", who takes an interest in Romeo.  After a series of events when Romeo's father refuses to sell him, in order to save his financially failing family, Romeo agrees to go with the God of Death to become a chimney sweep in Italy...even though kids are known never to... See full review

This is quite possibly one of the best anime I've seen in a long time.  Erased, aka "A City Without Me", is a gripping tale of friendship with murder and time travel thrown in the mix.  While I'm usually skeptical of time travel as a plot device, I feel this actually did it well. Story It opens up with Satoru Fujinuma, a 29-year-old failing manga artist who has taken a job at a pizza shop in order to pay the bills for his apartment.  When his mother comes to visit him, a case of an attempted kidnapping turns into something much greater when he recalls a kidnapping-murder case... See full review

The Slayers is one of the few anime I'll ever give a 10 out of 10 rating to, and there's a reason it's my number one all-time favorite anime.  Though a lot of it is generic fantasy and spellcasting, the characters bring the story to life. The anime itself was adapted from a light novel, and though it doesn't follow it to the letter, it's still interesting and entertaining. I will also say that this is one of the few anime where the English dub is just as good as the original Japanese cast.  I have seen both versions, and the voice actors really bring the characters to life. Story There are... See full review

This is, by far, my favorite amongst all of the Pokemon movies I've seen.  I saw it when it first came out, then later on got to see the Japanese version.  It's the only one I can watch over and over again and not get bored of, but let's take it step by step. The quick ratings are animation and sound... Not a lot of repeated footage, the battling between the three legendary birds not stretched to the point of breaking...yep, near full marks for that.  Animation was great. Sound?  Very close to the original Japanese version.  Even without seeing the Jap version, I'd give it a... See full review

If someone told me that there was an isekai cour out there which didn't have the typical ecchi and-or harem hackneyed garbage that plagues 99% of all isekai anime, I wouldn't have believed them... ...until this anime.  Yes, it does exist!  The rare and good isekai anime which doesn't need to rely on unrealistic boobs, a harem of girls throwing themselves at the protagonist, loli characters, or a perverted character!  -- Story Tsuyoshi Mukouda seems to be a typical salaryman who knows a thing or two about cooking, but that doesn't mean he isn't excited when he finds himself... See full review

I wouldn't put this on a level of Steins Gate, but it was still very well done.  That said, I wish there had been some sort of warning that, shortly after the anime starts, the pixelation on the screen is deliberate.  I actually stopped watching and went to find a different version because I thought the file was corrupted. -- Story On Hitogashima island in Wakayama, there is an old legend about the Shadow Sickness:  Any person who sees their doppleganger (shadow) will die. Shinpei is a student who returns to the island from his studies in Tokyo in order to attend the funeral of his... See full review

Wait...you're telling me it's possible to have a romance-genre anime/movie with teenagers which isn't cringey?  Apparently so, as this is probably one of the better anime movies I've seen lately. -- Story Middle school student Miyo Sasaki, aka "Muge", is a cheerful girl on the outside to always hide how she truly feels; that she doesn't feel like she belongs with her father and step-mother, or that her actual mother ever loved her.  Rather, she feels nobody can or will ever love her... ...except for her classmate, Kento Hinode.  She acts out and doesn't seem to care about... See full review

This anime is a slice-of-life comedy, and it does its job extremely well.  If you're looking for a light-hearted series which doesn't use "clickbait" methods (aka, cliffhangers at the end of each episode), then this is the one. Fans of K-on! will also enjoy it; it's made by the same studio (which is noticable from the first part of the animation). -- Story There honestly isn't really much of a story as it's not only slice-of-life which changes the theme of each episode each time there's a new one (with only the final couple episodes containing a sort of "to be... See full review

When I first saw the description of this anime (and that it was a comedy), I immediately said:  "Oh, great...another isekai comedy anime." After some other anime these past couple seasons started to go downhill, I finally gave up and clicked on this out of sheer boredom. To my surprise, I not only enjoyed it but looked forward to watching it every week; I even went and read the manga (yes, even going so far as to attempt to read the raw Japanese version since only about 84 chapters are translated as of this time) once the anime ended. -- Plot If someone took Hayate the Combat... See full review

If you're going to watch this (or have watched it), then you've definitely seen at least the first 15 episodes of the anime and the Book of Circus.  It also wouldn't hurt to watch Book of Murder as well.  If you haven't, I highly suggest watching that much (or just reading the manga) before watching this movie. For those not following the manga or decided not to watch Book of Murder before this, seeing Snake with Ciel might be a little confusing.  All the other characters (sans the movie-exclusive characters) I believe show up between episodes 1-15 of the first season and Book of Circus, so... See full review

I was surprisingly sucked into this anime.  The aesthetics are a little different from what I'm used to seeing as the lines are much rounder (especially noses).  I didn't know anything about the series before going into it as I found it when browsing Netflix, but I'm a little surprised there isn't more hype for this series. Plot A girl, who turns out to be a princess, stumbles into a remote tavern run by a mysterious and short man (and his friend, a talking pig) and passes out.  When she comes-to, she reveals that she is looking for the infamous Seven Deadly Sins; a group of criminals who... See full review

I'm going to preface by saying that this anime is not for everyone.  Those not too interested in time travel or quantum theory (things such as parallel worlds, divergence lines, chaos theory, ect) might have a hard time following it even though it does a fairly good job at going over the basics of what people need to know. However, for those interested in those things (or are interested in general), I'd highly recommend this.  It's not a "mindless" anime, but rather a thought-provoking one. Story In the year 2010, self-proclaimed "mad scientist" Okabe is attending a lecture... See full review

I'm a little late to the party with this review, but I did finally manage to find more than the first 8 minutes of the movie.  Actually, I had completely forgotten about it up until recently since it takes so long from the time of release to someone being able to sub it. Let's jump right in. Story The movie opens up with action and a chase scene, as some data has been stolen from some unknown location.  Considering that we see the Akai and Rei/Amuro chasing the criminal (merely referred to as "that woman" for the time being), it isn't hard to deduce where the data came from. The... See full review

Though I'm into art (cartooning, to be precise), calligraphy doesn't really interest me.  However, this anime is more about the interactions between characters, and a little bit of a self-journey, than the ins and outs of calligraphy. Therefore, anyone can enjoy it.  It's one of the better slice-of-life anime out there, as it stays true to the characters and interactions without getting too caught up in unrealistic comedy or over the top drama. Story 23 year old Seishu Handa, a pro calligrapher, is sent off to a remote and small island by his father after he punches the elderly curator who... See full review

I love this series, I really do.  It's one of my top favorites, but I couldn't give it a full 10/10 in Overall because there are a couple things which never made it from the manga into the anime, and this anime is supposed to follow the manga. One of which is the train robbery which anyone who watched the 2003 anime will remember; it's not as important in the 2009 anime or the manga.  However, there is an important scene between Edward and Roy (and Riza) shortly after Edward's State Alchemy test which was omitted from the anime, as well as the Youswell mining town incident. Story Two... See full review

Going into the final season from the hodge-podge way the first 78 episodes were done (seasons 1 and 2), I didn't know what to expect.  What I saw, however, was heads and shoulders above the first two seasons. There were still a couple things that made me dock a point from the Overall score, but otherwise, everything was enjoyable to watch. Plot Having surpassed the Shinou, Yuri can travel back and forth between worlds freely.  There are still unknowns surrounding the human lands of Big Shamaron, but peace seems to have come. At least, until a group established 2,000 years ago suddenly... See full review

I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi; there are very few sci-fi anime I've seen, and even less which I've actually enjoyed.  This series, however, I feel is an overlooked gem between the characters, setting, and especially the tone. "Just what is justice"? That's the theme of this anime, and it's done brilliantly.  It really highlights the philosophical concept behind the word "justice".  And of course for those who aren't as interested in that sort of thing, it's got plenty of mech battles to satisfy those who prefer action.  There's also a "love vs violence"... See full review

It's time for a lesson! Honestly, I'd like to know why it took me this long to find this anime; it's lighthearted, fun, amusing, and easy to re-watch.  What it lacks in an overarching plot, it makes up for in its cast of colorful characters as well as how it concludes each episode's problem in a satisfactory way. ...plus, I love it whenever Heine says "You need a lesson". Plot/Story Heine Wittgenstein is personally selected by the King of Glanzreich to teach the King's four youngest sons (ages 14, 15, 16, and 17) both material they should know for general education as well as what it... See full review

Finally, an anime which lives up to the hype I've heard about it.  While it isn't perfect by any means, it does the job it's supposed to do as a light-hearted, slice of life comedy. Story After a battle in another world which decimates nearly all of his forces, Satan/the Maoh (Demon King) of the land and one of his servants flee to a random world via the gate...the random world being modern-day Japan on Earth. From there, he learns that he has to do things the human way to get by and live in this new world until he can recover his magic in order to go back...if he even wants to. (Note:  My... See full review

I'm not sure where to start with this one.  It's only 11 episodes long, but the amount of emotions it can make someone feel can compete with the "full season" anime (25+ episodes). I'm going to try hard to avoid spoilers.  There's a section in the "Overall" heading at the end of this review where I have to touch on spoilers (though I put a lot of warnings before it, and even then I kept names and such out).  The rest is spoiler-free. Story Siblings Mirai and Yuuki, who were visiting a Robot Convention in Odaiba, suddenly find themselves in the midst of an earthquake... See full review

This is an amazing anime, and did a great job...for a first season.  Sadly, as of writing this review, the anime is about eight years old (and the manga being 13 and still unfinished) which means that at least for the anime, it's very unlikely we'll see a second season to conclude the story. -- Story Yona, the princess of Kouka, is betrayed by someone she trusted the night of her 16th birthday.  With the entire castle seemingly out to get her, her loyal friend (Hak) manages to guide her to safety in order to escape the usurpers who came for the throne. Upon meeting with a priest, they... See full review

This is a nice and relaxing movie.  It's far from fast paced and only has a single "action" scene, only a few minutes in to boot, so if you've come here for something a bit "louder" then you're in the wrong place. -- Story The plot centers around a shy, introverted teenaged boy named Yui (aka, "Cherry") who gets easily flustered if he has to speak in front people.  He even wears noise cancelling headphones to avoid conversations, and expresses himself on paper/online via haiku. One day, he (quite literally, though through no fault of his own) bumps into a... See full review

I'll admit:  I started watching this as something to listen to while drawing...but I quickly became invested in it.  I feel like this sort of anime is what I've been searching for, and while it does have some drawbacks, I'd definitely watch a second season (I heard the manga/source material isn't too much farther ahead, so it'll be a bit of a wait). -- Story After demons attacked, the great hero Leo managed to single handedly take them down.  However, rather than praise for his efforts, the townsfolk grew afraid of his monsterous power and strength to the point where he wound up... See full review

Rarely does an anime live up to its hype.  I passed on this when it first came out despite the hype surrounding it.  I'm actually rather wary of hyped up anime as the majority of them have me scratching my head wondering how they got hyped up so much...but this is an anime fairly worthy of its hype. ...and no, you don't need to be a science major or know much about quantum physics to understand what's going on. -- Story One day at the library, high school student Sakuta Azusagawa sees a spectacle not often seen in such a setting:  A senpai in his high school walking around in a... See full review

Certainly, when it comes to isekai anime, they tend to follow similar patterns:  The protagonist is either summoned by a higher power, stumbles into a dimensional rift, or meets an untimely end via the infamous Truck-kun.  So while one would presume that "if you've seen one isekai anime, you've seen them all", there are a few anime which, though similar, still don't really fall into that category. Tsukimichi is one of those.  And to be quite frank, I enjoyed it ten times more than That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime. -- Story Makoto Misumi seems to be an ordinary... See full review

I was a little annoyed at how difficult it was to watch this anime (darn those Netflix-exclusives), but it was worth the re-sub.  Let's just dive straight in, shall we? -- Story A Robin Hood-like group, only they con the rich and give to themselves.  Makoto Edamura prides himself as being the greatest con-man in Japan, but when a mysterious stranger pulls one over on him, he finds himself forced to flee to L.A where he gets mixed up with the same man who conned him in the first place as he is dragged into an even bigger world of the art of conning involving the mafia and drugs. The poor... See full review

For such a high-rated movie in Japan, this was not easy to find in the USA.  As it is a beautiful and heartfelt anime, I don't know why it never made it outside of Japan (with the exception of watching it online). I don't claim to have the best knowledge of the Japanese language, but I knew enough to understand most of what was going on in the movie.  Otherwise, I wouldn't even attempt to review it. Story Riki and Momoko are twins born prematurely, but while Riki managed to develop just fine, Momoko became sickly and had both mental and physical disabilities.  Despite that, she remains... See full review

"Move foward; look to tomorrow." Out of all the World Masterpiece Theater (WMT) anime I've been watching, this and "Romeo's Blue Sky" (I'll get around to reviewing that) are probably a couple of the best, most wholesome, and most heartwarming (and heartwrenching) stories.  There were times I laughed, times I applauded, and times when I was crying so hard that I could barely see the screen. Story Remy is a 10 year old girl from the countryside of France who lives with her mother and sister.  One night, their father returns from Paris, injured and out of money, and a secret... See full review

Much better than the first season; there are still some funny moments, but the comedy was toned down a lot in order to amp up the drama.  Some things I had nitpicked in the season 1 review were explained as well, making me wonder why they didn't just put this out as a 24 episode series to begin with (even the episode numbering continues at 13 with the first episode of this season). Plot There are two plots in this; the first spans episodes 1-4 and goes into Dazai's past and how he came to be with the Agency, and episodes 5-12 deals with what was dropped in episode 12 of the last season. Like I've... See full review

This second season was heads and shoulders over the first season.  In fact, this was what I had been hoping for and wanting to see in the first season as it explains everything which was not explained (but should have been) in the first season. Plot As the activities of Libra continue, each individual who makes up Libra has a life outside of it as well as what brought them to Libra in the first place.  As Leonardo continues to look for a way to heal his sister, various monsters and Blood Breed are on the move and creating chaos in an already chaotic town. Characters Well, everyone should at... See full review