sothis

Story
When I started watching Yumeria, I really had no idea what I was in for. I had heard rumors it was a sci fi series, and others that it was of the ecchi variety. Nevertheless, I decided to just pop it in and see what happened. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, the first few episodes aren’t that bad at all. The series opens with Tomokazu narrating the fact that it’s his birthday. He falls asleep and wakes up in a dream world where pointy robotic creatures of sorts are flying around causing mayhem. Enter Mone, an absolutely obnoxious little girl... See full review

Story
It's short, it's fully CG, and it's seemingly a light fantasy anime that would be perfect to pass the time; but did Hanare Toride no Yonna succeed at stealing my heart? Watching Hanare is less like watching an anime, and more like watching every FMV of an RPG from start to finish. At only thirty minutes in length, there isn't much time for any sort of a story to be developed. What little we know of Yonna is that as a young child, she cursed a boy who looked at her the wrong way - and was thus cast out of the village, along with her brother. Somehow, they end up at a large... See full review

Story
If there’s one thing I know, it’s that old school Atari/Amiga/Commodore games kick serious ass. I never played Wizardry (I grew up playing Ultimas non stop), but when I discovered that an anime had been made out of tribute to this old classic, I couldn’t help but be excited. Luckily for me, my excitement was for a good reason!

The plot of Wizardry is fairly standard for a dungeon crawler game: a bad guy is at the bottom of a dungeon and the heroes must defeat him. In this case, the evil wizard of choice has stolen an amulet that protected the king from harm, but no one... See full review

Story
Wind: A Breath of Heart is a short fifteen minute OVA, based on a game of the same name, which makes absolutely no freaking sense at all. It’s Christmas Eve, and a group of unknown friends want to have a party. I say unknown because unless you have played the game, you won’t know who they are or get any sort of introduction. Anyways, a few of the girls have planned a soiree and one of the boys has decided it’ll be a cosplay parties. Cue the fantasies, please! The rest of the OVA (about ten minutes) follows the individual friends who are trying to make their way to the party. A train is... See full review

Story
Story? What story? Wild Cardz literally doesn't have one. Not only is there no background as to who the girls are, but even the idea of the current plot is extremely, if not impossibly hard to grasp. By the end of the OVA I wondered "wtf just happened?". Characters are introduced randomly and you still have no idea who they are at the end, the entire "point" of the OVA wasn't explained well and in general the story was just complete garbage. I have literally nothing good to say about the "story", hence an unprecedented score of 0.
Animation
The animation didn't suck, but it also wasn't... See full review

Story
Wild 7 is a two part OVA which spans 50 minutes for each part. They are two relatively standalone stories about the Wild 7, a group of seven convicts who have been given a chance: obtain police powers and status and take out bad guys, and earn your freedom. Cyber City Oedo, anyone?

At its core, Wild 7 is a show about bikes and guns, violence and explosions. Each episode deals with trying to take down a different bad guy, but you don't watch it for the plot, you watch it for the action. It's definitely action packed and exciting, but also has a somewhat campy feel to it that makes... See full review

Story
Finally, a romance that doesn't suck.

I'll admit I had an aversion against watching Video Girl Ai, due to how incredibly generic-harem-romance-y it seemed to be based on the description and overall plot. In addition, the current main recommendations in the database are Chobits and AMG (which I feel are totally inappropriate), which also turned me off to the idea of watching this. I came away from watching this OVA, however, with a very pleasant feeling, as it's definitely more like Kimi ga Nozomu Eien than any of the above mentioned series.

Our story starts out... See full review

Story
Although the name would suggest it (as well as the screenshots), Very Private Lesson is in fact not hentai. It's ecchi, that's for sure, but it isn't even THAT ecchi. We see occasional nakedness (without any nipples or such), the occasional shot of Tairaku's pants when he has a hard-on, and the occasional thing such as Aya getting groped by a fellow female classmate, but no sex or anything of the sort. That being said, Very Private Lesson could have EASILY been a hentai, had there been any sex. The plot follows a man named Tairaku who just wants to sleep with one of his fellow teachers. One... See full review

Story
I'll admit, when I turned on Vampire Wars I expected something really stupid. It surely would have something to do with vampires fighting humans or something contrived and generic, and would be an utter waste of time. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered I was wrong! In fact, Vampire Wars ends up having a very interesting plot, namely about where the vampires came from, why they are on Earth, why they suck people's blood, etc. Obviously I won't give it away in a review, but let's just say it was very unique and original, to say the least. Prior to finding out those tidbits, it does... See full review

Story
At twenty-something minutes in length, it usually is difficult for one episode OVAs to have a decent storyline. Luckily, in Ursa Minor Blue’s case, I was pleasantly surprised. A young boy and his grandfather live in an island observatory, secluded, in the middle of a vast sea. The setup reminded me quite a bit of the Myst novels, to be honest. One night, during his ritual star observing, the boy discovers that the Ursa Minor (bear) constellation has what appears to be a new star. He shows it to his grandfather, who recognizes the mysterious urgency of the situation and takes him on a voyage... See full review

Story
This 20 minute OVA is an introduction to the television series, and presents a brief story to laugh over. Aya, a popular girl at school, meets Nina, a bumbling witch apprentice. Of course, Aya doesn't believe any of this at first, until the girl's tennis team has to have a match with the boy's team over ownership of the courts. The girls are clearly outmatched, and thus, Nina does something about it: she turns Aya into a boy! Wacky hijinks ensue, but not very many, considering the 20 minute length and all.

I admire short OVAs like this that can have a relatively interesting story... See full review

Story
I had no idea what to expect with Uchuu Kazoku Carlvinson. At first glance, and based on the synopses out there, I figured I'd be watching a Captain Tylor-esque OVA with the addition of a baby; but what I got was a genuinely hilarious romp through the lives of a very unlikely crew of misfits, and a young and curious child. Don't be mistaken - Uchuu Kazoku Carlvinson is a slice-of-life comedy anime at heart. Most of the humor is derived from watching Andy the robot attempt to parent Corona, even though he has no emotions or programming to do so. For example, he tries to participate in a... See full review

Story
I just want to put a big note at the beginning of this that explains how hard this review is to write. When Twin Spica was first being released, I was probably the largest fan you could have talked to. I convinced everyone I knew to watch it, telling them that it had elements of Planetes and Stellvia, amongst others. It had such, such potential through the first seven episodes, and at that point I stopped watching due to the glacial release schedule. I recently watched the entire series from start to finish, and what I can say is that my feelings completely reversed from sheer enjoyment and... See full review

Story
It's hard to give a solid score to this, because each episode is drastically different, similar to things like Neo-Tokyo, Memories, etc. This was originally supposed to be a set of Twilight Zoneish stories, but ended up being only two. The claim to fame is definitely episode 2 by Mamoro Oshii, but consequently, I really didn't like that one of the two. If I was to grade each story individually, episode 1 would get an 8 in this section, with episode 2 getting a 6 or so.

The first episode concerns a girl finding a camera that is supposedly from the future. Essentially, it is a... See full review

Story
Twilight of the Dark Master is a dark and gritty tale that takes place in Tokyo, in the near future. The world doesn't seem too terribly different, except for one fact: Shinjuku was destroyed a few decades ago by a mysterious white light, and since then, strange things sometimes happen. In the present, a young woman is distraught when terrible things happen to herself and her fiance which, needless to say, involves a fierce demon. Our heroine Shizuka Tachibana then decides to seek out vengeance against this demon, putting her in the path of Tsunami, a demon hunter of sorts.

The... See full review

Story
Say this with me: "Done before!" .. and one more time for good measure: Done before!!!! Yes folks, that's right. Yet another plodding and totally unoriginal dating-sim game transition to the big screen. I'd like to talk about features of True Love Story that other dating-sim converts don't have, such as an interesting plot, good animation, likeable characters, etc. Unfortunately, I can't. True Love Story easily succeeds at seeming like a total ripoff of every other dating-sim anime out there, down to the detail.

First of all, we have the same kind of unrealistic love story... See full review

Story
Tristia of the Deep Blue Sea is actually focused on a girl named Nanoca, who likes to invent golems and invent various things. The story we are told is that she has been sent to Tristia to help revive their economy, though we never really understand many aspects of the story. Who sent her? How was she supposed to help revive the economy? I suspect that fans of the manga or whatever this was based off of would understand these things, but unfortunately for the regular viewers, we don't. Anyways, rather than being a show about inventing or neat things like that, the entirety of the two episodes... See full review

Story
Anyone who knows me would also know how much this kind of story would interest me, and they'd be correct. I sought out this movie for quite awhile just based on the premise of the plot, and finally found it. Indeed, the story itself is fantastic, sounding like it could have come out of a science fiction novel, or has elements from a lot of movies and books out there. It starts off strong, introducing us to this new, sterile, and very controlled society. It shows us how the people live, and the travesties that happen to those who are suspected of being the Mu, people with telepathic abilities. I... See full review

Story
Tokyo Revelation is something that I figured would be kind of like watching Mystery Science Theater 3000, no joke. I attribute this to the absolutely horrible presentation Manga gave the DVD. Really folks, it's almost laughable. The front cover and artwork looks like it was badly scanned and printed out (on a low dpi printer), and everything is all grainy. The artwork appears to make it seem like a ripoff of X TV, and the menu isn't much better. Anyways, needless to say, I didn't expect much except a barrel of laughs, but I was pleasantly proven wrong.

Now, let me make it clear... See full review

Story
Puss in Boots is the tale of, well, Puss in Boots, the swashbuckling cat. We are introduced to our furry friend when he is being banished from the land of cats for saving a mouse. As if this wasn't enough, several cutthroats of the feline variety are then sent to kill him! The assassination attempts throughout the film are simply the comic relief, however, and are not the central plot. Puss in Boots (Perro) runs across a house where three men live. The two older brothers are hoarding their deceased father's riches, refusing to share it with their younger and overworked brother Pierre. Various... See full review

Story
The storyline of Tokyo Project is fairly convoluted at best, and wasn't always entirely clear as to what was going on. Essentially, Akira, Junpei and two females make up a detective agency, though this isn't apparantly clear. Junpei doubles as a rock star, and witnesses a man dying. He hands over a disk, and thus the troubles of the four begins. The disk, it seems, contains top secret information about a weapon, as well as other things. This information would point a finger at politicians and an influential company, which means the target of their guns are none other than the four... See full review

Story
It's really hard to talk about Beyond the Clouds without spoiling (for the record, I feel NFO and AniDB both spoil in their descriptions... as they both use the same description), so I'll stick to what happens in the beginning. What's implied, but not really discussed in detail, is that Japan underwent a split after they lost the war, and Hokkaido became the land of Ezo. A great tower was also built but its purpose was unknown until decades later. In the present, however, three friends enjoy a summer together. Two of them, Hiroki and Takuya, have constructed a plane over the years... See full review

Story
Yeah, I know what you are thinking. First, that this sounds really girlie or shallow. Secondly, that it sounds like an overdone romance. While this is partially true on both accounts, it definitely succeeds at being at least somewhat unique in its premise. As far as the girlieness, well yes, it's a romance OVA, so it has an aspect of that. But in general, it isn't SUPER girlie shoujo in most ways (the animation, the story, etc). As far as the story, it as least manages to tell the same old "girl goes for unattainable guy" idea in a new setting... in this case, a boutique with a french name and... See full review

Story
It was difficult trying to figure out what score to give this series in the story category. First, the story itself is mostly a slapstick type comedy involving Apulo and Lateil. There is a ton of filler, and many scenes shown simply for comic effect. Lateil is interested in Marsha, who thinks he's awful because of how "badly" he treats Apulo, who laughs all the way! Hilarious jokes are exchanged, especially between the ship (Lagendra) and the duo, who are obviously "inferior" to him. Like I said, a great deal revolves around comedy, and it really succeeds. I don't like harem comedy humor, or... See full review

Story
When I first picked up Diary of Tortov Roddle, I had no idea what it was about. Studio 4C is my favorite studio and the group JollyRoger has put out many of their works and shorts. Thus, when they released this newfound gem, I knew I had to watch it. Luckily, it was just as good as I had hoped it would be.

Shown with no dialogue whatsoever (except the printed words of Tortov's diary), Diary of Tortov Roddle follows a thin and wiry man named (you guessed it!) Tortov Roddle, on his adventures through whatever mystical land he inhabits. We are treated to six different quiet... See full review

Story
The Devilman series is old, long running and very well known, and was created by the (in my opinion) sexually frustrated Go Nagai. I can’t say I’ve been a fan of any of his series, including Devilman, but I had heard the plot for Devilman Lady was quite good; thus, I decided to check it out. I can’t say I’m too happy I did. Unlike the other series in the Devilman universe, Devilman Lady takes an entirely new approach towards where the demon powers come from. In Devilman, the source is an ancient demon whose soul overtakes the body of its host. In Devilman Lady, without... See full review

My favorite of the Minna no Uta shorts so far, this magical tale is a visual treat (reminiscent of Koji Yamamura) with a delightful song in the backdrop. A cute fantasy adventure, and at only two minutes in length, a quick watch.

Story
I'm a big fan of Studio 4C; self-described classics such as End of the World and Princess Arete, not to mention various shorts in The Animatrix, are older Studio 4C titles that I feel should not be missed by any anime fans. Thus, when I saw that Tekkon Kinkreet was also created by Studio 4C, I couldn't help but watch it. Unfortunately, Tekkon Kinkreet ended up being an even larger disappointment than Paprika. In a cinematic fashion, Tekkon Kinkreet opens with a sweeping and panoramic shot of a rusty and run-down city - the camera flying through the air alongside a flock of birds. It is... See full review

Story
Sound familiar? That's because this plot has definitely been done before. In the same fashion as Girl from Phantasia, Tattoon Master delivers a fairly lackluster story of a girl who falls in some sort of unrealistic love with a very unwilling boy, and clings to him the entire show while other random bad guys attack. In this case, it has a bit of a Scryed feel, as Nima and a few others have strange powers from the Tattoon tribe, that they use to kick ass. But for the most part, it's the same old story here, tied up in decent animation for once.

Tattoon Master is primarily a... See full review

Story
As an important introduction to this review, I have not read the Earthsea novels; in addition, I generally am not impressed with the majority of Studio Ghibli titles. Spirited Away is a classic in its own right, and I did also enjoy Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service; most of the other titles, however, did nothing for me. These points are perhaps important as the two major complaints I keep reading about in relation to Gedo Senki are not related to the actual plot, character development, or animation; rather, the complaints are either "It doesn't feel like a Ghibli... See full review