snivets

As shorts go, this one was pretty good. It managed, through a very small amount of action, to hint at a much bigger plot. The animation quality was high, and it very succesfully left me wanting much much more.

UtaPri is an extremely light series. It was very pleasant and easy viewing, and didn't have any glaring flaws despite its very stereotypical reverse harem nature. Basically, a plain girl with no obvious talent makes it into prestigious school for idols and entertainers, actually has lots of talent, makes friends with a bunch of hot guys who all try to get her to be their exclusive composer, eventually causing them to form a 6-man idol group. Story: I ranked the story 4/10 for predictability and cheesy moments, the kind where I rolled my eyes and said, "Am I really watching this?" Don't let that... See full review

This is a preliminary explanation of why this show is so awesome; I promise to do an edit/real review when it's over. (Edit: See below) As a literary nerd, the game of karuta has long delighted me. If you like poetry, literature, love stories, or Japanese history check this anime out right now! Do it! If you want to read the poems as the show airs, skip the online wikis. My suggestion is Peter McMillan's highly acclaimed One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each; he's a poet as well as a scholar and does an excellent job with the translation and notes. The book is very readable, and jam-packed with background... See full review

It has been quite a while since I've enjoyed a show quite this much. Story: Socially awkward Yuki moves to Enoshima, where the hyper alien Haru appears in his life and keeps bothering him to learn how to fish. But then we discover that there is another alien being in the ocean whose power threatens to overtake Enoshima and possibly all of Japan during a typhoon. It was a fairly solid coming-of-age story; the whole point was Yuki's growth, and the whole fishing up JFX thing was the vehicle through which Yuki developed as a human being. Haru, if you know how to take a hint, is clearly on a mission from the... See full review

What a cute short! I really enjoyed Tonari no Seki-kun! Seki-kun sits next to Yokoi in class. She always notices him playing around (and the ridiculous games he invents are dee-lightful), and thinks she should be scolding him...but then she gets sucked into his games and ends up being just as distracted as him. So, yeah, hilarious. And not long enough to become annoying. If you like shorts and comedy, this one will be a solid choice.

What seems like a simple movie about a trio of homeless people trying to return a baby to its mother is actually a very complex piece of work with layers of meaning. Story: The story is characteristically Satoshi Kon, in that it hops, skips, and jumps through unrelated elements. I find that his style of storytelling adds the realism of chaos and points out the humor of coincidence in the unorganized nature of the plot. However, the random events also serve to unravel the facades that our characters have built up, and we come to discover their pasts, as well as see them wrestle with their ghosts in... See full review

Sakurasou was an anime which managed to hold my interest despite its fairly average storyline. It never made me bored, but I never went beyond feeling lukewarm about each week's episode arriving. Something was missing in it for me, and I'm not quite sure what that was. Not a bad show by any means, though. Story: Basically, a school/slice of life story about some pretty crazy characters, most of whom have talents that set them apart from "normal" people. It utilizes typical plotlines [school festival, foreign friend arriving to take someone home, threat of their home being shut down] to explore... See full review

It really doesn't get much better than this. Makoto Shinkai has knocked this one out of the park--every time I watch one of his movies, I wonder if his art can get any better. Hold on to your hats, because somehow, every time, he manages to produce a work of quality that completely overshadows his earlier works. And that, my friends, is no easy task. *Spoiler Alert* Story: Keeping it simple, the story is a bittersweet romantic tale of a boy who meets a stranger in the park on rainy mornings, when it is his rule to skip first period. He has a dream to become a shoemaker; she drinks beer, eats... See full review

An otherwise boring high school boy, Kasuga, is tempted by the left-behind gym clothes of his crush. Startled by a noise as he picks them up, he runs off, only to find that he has inadvertantly stolen them. Terrified, he hides them at home. Shortly thereafter, he finds out that Nakamura, a rebellious member of his class, saw him steal them. Using his secret as leverage, she blackmails him into a "contract," though what it is or what she wants remains ambiguous until the end of the series. Story: Basically involves Nakamura continuing to be a busybody, Kasuga trying to normally date the girl... See full review

If I had to use one word to describe this anime, it would be, "Delightful." Story: Uchouten Kazoku did a great job of showing rather than telling its story. It has a "chaotic comedy" appeal which is underscored by sad and serious moments. The story has an intricacy that reminded me of Baccano!, although the genre is completely different. Lots of characters, interacting at various points throughout the story, gradually revealing a bigger story. It does well with bringing up past events by focusing on the parts of the past that are relevant to the story without using drawn-out... See full review

This is a very typical KyoAni piece. It is light and enjoyable, fairly average with just enough quirks (aka talking bird) to be interesting. The premise is completely silly, and if you take it seriously, you are doing it wrong. Haters gonna hate, but there's really nothing bad about Tamako Market. Recommended for K-On! fans, and fans of other light slice-of-lifes.

I love all things steampunk, so I borrowed Steamboy from the public library recently. Story: The plot had all the elements of a good plot: multiple characters whose actions collided in an exciting and suspenseful way, excellent pacing wherein no scene felt unnecessary or unnecessarily long, and the situation kept getting worse and worse until the climax, which was, admittedly, rather vague. Furthermore, the plot managed to incorporate complex themes, framed through the characters and their struggles with each other because of their beliefs about science and society. And managed to do so without long... See full review

This slow-paced slice-of-life is not for everyone. Its atmosphere is subdued and subtle, yet elegant and meaningful.  **Spoilers to follow** Story: Sora goes to Tokyo for a month-long mage certification course, and along the way she makes friends, meets people, and, through the tasks assigned by her clients, digs into tough questions about the Meaning of Life. Like: should a person who is hired to do a job do merely the job assigned them, or should they do their best to help their client, despite being outside of their job description? Along with that, what is the price of simply going along with... See full review

As I watched the final episode of Silver Spoon, a single word came to mind to describe this anime. "Thoughtful." But also thought-provoking. Brief Summary: A "smart kid" who has trouble fitting in at his traditional middle school is encouraged by a teacher to apply to an agricultural high school. Once there, he learns a lot about how food is produced, as well as learning how to make friends. Themes: Making friends, business realities, the difficulties of being in the agricultural industry, how food is made, the value of hard work, the value of struggling with large moral issues (for... See full review

What a great little show! This is slice of life at its absolute best, a portrait of a Japanese family who runs a small business during the 1960's. I'm a huge fan of accurate period shows of any kind, but this one really does justice to the times. Story: Episodic, with all of the stories referencing the time period. Three-wheeled trucks, tension between hand-made and machine-made industries, black TV giving way to color, old radios, memories of the war, the Olympics, baseball. Additionally, the episodes each show some kind of strain or tension being placed on the family and showcases how they deal with it... See full review

I watched 10 minutes of this movie and decided it was showing more or less the same events as the TV series, and didn't feel like watching it again. I liked the TV series a lot (and I'd encourage you to check out my review of it) but suspect I would prefer the show to the movie. Either way, it's worth your time.

Let me start this review by saying, I am a complete sucker for any kind of food anime. I *love* looking at beautiful piles of bakery goodies. That is the entire reason why I picked this one up. But let's get down to business... Story: This one is slow paced. It is mostly about the daily lives of some bakers and then a bigger story develops step by step, day by day around them. Either you like that sort of pace or you don't. Also, a lot of it--the simplicity of their lives, the fantasy aspects of swords and ships, and the blasé attitude which most of them take to the fact that they have no memories... See full review

Suki-tte Ii na Yo is a very simple shoujo anime with a mellow and realistic setting. A lot of people compare it to Kimi ni Todoke because of the very similar premise for both shows, but by the end, I felt that KnT took an entirely different direction, focusing on the chase, rather than the post-formation relationship dynamics. Also the side characters are completely different and make the atmosphere completely different, but I digress. Story:  A basic story about a shy, plain girl with no friends, Mei, and a popular boy, Yamato, who fall in love with each other, Suki-tte Ii na Yo has a very... See full review

I feel very lukewarm about this show, and about zombies in general, which I view as an all-around weak plot device because they usually have about as much personality as trees, or any other part of a landscape. Story: Meh. There wasn't much meat to it, just a series of problems. First, Rea wants to get away from her dad. The victimization of the main female lead managed to be creepy and boring at the same time--boring because there was no real one event that prompted Rea to get away. Just a series of flashbacks and then some not-convincing events that got her "killed." Then, we moved onto the... See full review

In comparison to some of the other works to come out of the Young Animator Training Project, Ryo's story is somewhat vague, takes place in a historical era (which probably requires prior knowledge of Japanese history [which can be assumed when writing for a Japanese audience]), and doesn't really have a lot of meat or development. I was kind of surprised by how weak the story was, and I didn't really think the animation itself was all that special. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a waste of 25 minutes, but if you're not a history buff, you might consider skipping this one.

RDG: Red Data Girl: the story of a shy girl with a goddess living inside of her. Suzuhara wants nothing more than to be normal, but the goddess' powers keep making that difficult to achieve. And she has a crush on her protector, who only seems to dislike her. Story: As you can see from the above synopsis, the plot isn't terribly interesting. With more interesting characters, there would be plenty of potential here, but the characters were timid and more willing to hide their emotions than give in to them. Animation & Sound: Pretty standard, and the pretty art enhances the light-on-content feel of the... See full review

Oh dearie me. It's time to review Madoka... Story: Decent. Well-paced. Thick on the drama. Interesting in that Madoka didn't make the choice to become a Mahou Shoujo until the very end. "Shit got real after Mami died?" I guess, but not really. The story didn't really captivate me the way it seems to have captivated Everyone Else. It had some holes; Homura fulfilled that obnoxious trope of "plot twist in the form of a single character knowing everything all along." The ending was obnoxiously vaguely complex and had too much use of psuedo-physics with weird religious... See full review

My first impression of Psycho-pass was that someone was trying to recreate Death Note. It gew on me, however, and I've ultimately decided that it is a quietly good show which really tears into questions of morality and society. Good Points -Really meaty themes: justice, controlling society, morality, good vs evil, etc. -Never crosses over into cliches. -Beautiful atmosphere, really fits the themes. -Intriguing characters who wrestle with holding a complicated position in society/the story. -Interesting end which was believable, resolved and yet didn't resolve. Good balance. Bad Points -Some... See full review

This installment of Oto na Joshi no Anime time brings us 3 episodes and 3 stories, each about a Japanese woman and her life. We are shown a day or two in the life of each one, and watch her interact with the people around her, while we listen to her thoughts, which are often different from what she says and does. Through each story, we touch on social issues, all of which are of pressing concern for contemporary Japan and particularly women. Story: Fabulously done, the stories follow each woman through her daily life. We are shown how their life seems normal, and as the episode develops, we find out that... See full review

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when I picked this show up, and I was actually seriously annoyed after the first episode. However, I'll admit that I got sucked in, and, despite the obvious thin-ness of plot, I ended up enjoying it. Story: What annoyed me so much in the first episode was the contrived-ness of the premise, which felt a lot like someone said, "What excuse can we devise to throw three dapper bishounen into the lives of four moe-moe ear-girls? And of course they'll ALL fall in love with exactly the right person--we don't need any reasons for that!" And then then conclusion... See full review

I liked the first season of this show. I intensely disliked the second. Story: I felt this season lacked a strong central theme/story thread. Last season, the central theme was "finding acceptance for Kirino's weird hobby." And it worked well. This season's theme seemed to be fanservice. The stories were lame, disjointed/unrelated to each other, cobbled together, and lacked coherency. Characters: Annoying/10. Didn't really develop any further, except Saori, but she turned out to be boring. Too many tsundere chars, and way too much arguing over Kousaka. Lamesauce all around. Overall: Too... See full review

Watching Lain and then Haibane Renmei a while back got me on a bit of a Yoshitoshi Abe kick. What I very quickly realized was that NieA Under 7 is nothing like Haibane Renmei, or really, any of Abe-sensei's other projects. I found out later that NieA was what they worked on after Lain finished, and it was supposed to be a kind of break from the dark and heavy themes found therein. Furthermore and unfortunately for me, I was only able to get a hold of the English dub, which has very likely tainted my opinion of NieA herself. Story: It takes place in a small town in Japan, set in a future where aliens... See full review

As excited as I was for this show and at the beginning of it, it ultimately fell short of my expectations for several reasons which are the meat and potatoes of this review. But what are potatoes without a little bit of cheddar cheese and context? One of the things you may be thinking is that the premise of Natsuyuki Rendezvous is really similar to AnoHana. All I have to say on that subject is that, yes, the premises are essentially the same, but there were things AnoHana did much better than Natsuyuki--another reason why it fell short of my expectations. Another comment I'd like to air is that a lot of... See full review

This OVA is a short snippet of Natsuiro Kiseki's four main characters four years after the events of the TV series. It shows them meeting up at Rin's shrine for the first time in a long time, where they have a short conversation about what they've done since the events of the main series and what they will be doing with their futures. I hate OVAs that are purely fanservice or are unrelated to the original storyline--this is definitely not either of thoes things. It is short'n'sweet, and adds to the storyline by giving us an idea of what came after.

Natsuiro Kiseki is about four childhood friends who get involved in a series of strange events (including flying and bodyswitching) after they accidentally wish upon a sacred stone at the local shrine. These events serve as the backdrop to the main conflict, Saki's imminent move to Tokyo, and allow the girls to explore the depths of their friendship while making new memories over summer vacation. Story: The story is episodic, and is driven by the four characters who each have a very distinct and strong personality. It goes through many typical "summer vacation" events, but also adds in some... See full review