sothis

Story
Now, before those of you who have seen this already scoff at what might be a high score for the story section, hear me out. Although poorly executed, Mask of Zeguy has one of the more unique plots I’ve seen in a series, and definitely is an odd mix of technologies and times.

In Mask of Zeguy, a legendary mask (guess what it’s named??) which supposedly gives its wielder great power (and can open a huge gate that controls nature or something like that) has been kept safe through history due to people called the Time Warriors. They travel through time, keeping it safe from... 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
Taking place in Earth, in what seems to be the 80s, Blue Seed follows the story of a young woman named Momiji as she learns of her fate as the Kushinada. Japan is under attack by Aragami, creatures that appear to be monsters, but the general public doesn’t know much about these occurences. The Kushinada is supposed to be fated to be sacrificed, because only the Kushinada can make all the Aragami disappear. For bumbling Momiji, this means being thrown into a life of monster hunting, as well as being paired up with the unlikeliest of partners: Kusanagi, a part human part Aragami fellow. ... See full review

Story
Like Stellvia, Candidate for Goddess is a lighthearted look at kids in space, training to fight a deadly disaster. In Stellvia, it was the upcoming shockwave that would destroy Earth. In Candidate for Goddess, it's invading aliens. Nevertheless, this is my favorite type of series by far, and thus, I was definitely disappointed when the end of Candidate for Goddess rolled around.

The story starts out simple enough: a narrator introduces us to Zion, the only human populated planet left untouched by Victim, invading aliens. Mankind's only defense (surprise surprise) is five giant... See full review

Story
Ghost Sweeper Mikami is quite a bit like Ghostbusters -- Japanese style. If you've seen Yougen Kaisha you'll recognize their similarities instantly, for good reason! However, where Yougen Kaisha succeeded, GSM seemed to fail in my book.

The overall plot is the same: group of bumbling buddies takes cares of spooks and spirits for a price, running into various hijinks along the way. The leader is obsessed with money, while no one else has any. In GSM's case, a very nasty case arises, and thus the movie begins. GSM is a random slapstick comedy, but also has very dark undertones as... See full review

Story
Baby Love unfortunately suffers from the young adult codependant love interest syndrome. While normal and stable adolescents/teenagers might have a crush that lasts awhile, most (at least I hope) don't become completely obsessive and secretive about convincing someone to look their way. In addition, I rarely hear 16 year olds talking about how they would die for someone they barely know, and only met briefly when they were 12. But for anime, especially romance ones? This is totally fair game, as it is in the case of Baby Love. For the obsessive nature it reminded me quite a bit of Fashion Boy... See full review

5 stars for entertainment value alone. It's basically a song that could have come straight out of Katamari Damacy, with almost 5 minutes of animated banana hammocks.  They flop, they're used to swing around, they're stretched over the head, and used for all sorts of shenanigans. Dongs: the anime.

Story
Yawwwwwn. As specified in one of my previous Detective Conan OVA reviews, I have a firm belief that each OVA became successively worse. While none of the OVAs could beat Detective Conan OVA 5 in suckage level, Detective Conan: A Challenge from Agasa (aka Detective Conan OVA 7) comes dangerously close. The initial premise is boring from the get-go: the Professor has been kidnapped and wants the children's help in saving him. Of course, he's given them various clues to help them along their way, and Conan and company use their powers of deduction to decipher said clues, as always. Soon... See full review

Story
On my quest to add every Detective Conan OVA to the database, I inevitably ran across Detective Conan: Conan and Heiji and the Vanished Boy (aka Detective Conan OVA 3); while the most sentimental yet of the Detective Conan OVAs, it also proved to be one of the less interesting attempts. The first problem is the story: while only thirty minutes in length, it's disjointed and somewhat random. Conan and Ran have traveled to Osaka and, as always, run into a mystery they can't refuse. First, they meet three children who have a strange resemblance to their friends at home. Is there a reason... See full review

Story
Hello, my name is sothis, and I'm a console RPGaholic - my addiction began with Dragon Warrior 1 at the age of eight, and it went downhill from there. Fellow addicts, rejoice! The 8-bit parody franchise Mahoujin Guru Guru is here to provide you a fix.Mahoujin Guru Guru, in general, follows two young heroes as they embark on a quest to thwart the ultimate evil; and much like an old 8-bit classic, the story isn't terribly important or complex. Instead, the franchise aims at poking fun at all elements of old RPGs, including black box information screens, hit point displays, midi-style... 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
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
Sounds like a fairly entertaining OVA, right? Unfortunately, it doesn't end up being nearly as amusing as it could have been. The only similar series that comes to mind is I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, which I really disliked. But even with that series, it had humor that I enjoyed to some extent, or original type jokes, slapstick humor, etc. Delinquent in Drag, though it could have had a variety of things, really had none of this. The 40 minutes consisted of Bunji trying to shove his face in girls' behinds or breasts, very blatantly, not even in a subtle or humorous fashion. He also managed to get... See full review

Story
Hmm, where to begin with this one. Well, what kind of OVA *is* Del Power X, exactly? It definitely has mecha, it also has some bits of random off the wall comedy (usually related to parodies, or just wacky like Abenobashi or the like). I'd say the first half of the 40 minute OVA is undoubtedly better than the second, as it has most of the funny comedy (though there isn't a huge amount, just so you know), as well as funny things with the mecha. But the second half is mostly just Manami fighting and not knowing what to do, against all sorts of people-in-mecha-suits that I'm still not sure where... See full review

Story
In addition to the human world, there exists a Guardian world full of magic users and Neutralizers – those who are responsible for protecting the Throne of Yord, the source of their power. Tiara, Lena and Kagetsu are three friends who live in the Guardian world, but their lives become more complicated once the Throne of Yord is stolen. Without spoiling, I’ll just say that the plot involves betrayal, heartbreak, and loss... all related to the Throne of Yord, the real reason it was stolen, and the pains the friends must go through to not only survive, but to solve the mystery of the... See full review

Story
I love anything Studio 4C, for the most part. Digital Juice is the only thing I’ve seen that I haven’t enjoyed very much (though I still think I enjoyed it more than this), so needless to say, I was excited to see this had come out. What I walked away with was a feeling of disappointment.

As far as a plot, you’ll have a hard time finding one. Then again, Studio 4C shorts aren’t necessarily known for their high amount of content, but still, I was expecting something a little better. The overall "plot", if there is one, is a hand puppet explaining (or discussing briefly)... See full review

Story
When this six minute featurette begins to play, it clearly says it's an amateur anime. That being said, this is fairly obvious in most aspects, from the story to the inconsistent animation. This is the story section, though, so I'll discuss it a bit. Keep in mind this review in general won't be very long due to the feature only being six minutes. :)

I've always been interested in the mating rituals of kids in Japan, because it seems so childish. Giving someone a note if you are interested in them, even if you barely know them, is fascinating to me and reminds me of elementary... See full review

Story
NightWalker bears a striking resemblance to the Vampire Princess Miyu TV series, with only a few minor differences. First, there are more main characters in Night Walker. Second, NightWalker's arc sometimes end on a positive note, whereas Miyu's episodes almost entirely end in a depressing or solemn manner. Beyond that, however, the two are formulaic to a T: the main character hears about a strange case, finds the people involved, discovers one is possessed, and gets rid of the demon somehow - repeat as needed. Unfortunately the two... See full review

Story
Like Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider? Explorer Woman Ray will probably appeal to you. Though the name suggests the story will revolve around someone named Ray, for the most part, there isn't a set main character. Ray, indeed, is one of them: she's an archaeologist who is studying the lost civilization of the Ords, a people more advanced than present day humans, who worshipped light and the sun. Ray owns a mirror (passed down from her missing grandfather) that supposedly unlocks the power of the Ords, but everyone else wants it for their own selfish plans. Mai and Mami are two incredibly obnoxious... See full review

Story
First, I want to point out that this OVA has nothing to do with the Suikoden games. As someone who wanted to watch this specifically for that reason (to see if there was any relation), I'd recommend you keep that in mind when reading this review, and when deciding if you'll watch this. The Suikoden legend is based on a Chinese story that was ported over to Japanese beliefs as well, which deals with the 108 stars and such. If there is a direct corollation between this anime and the games, please let me know. Otherwise, unless I'm missing something huge, there are no related... See full review

Story
Ahh Gravion. I recall the first time I saw episode one in all its glory, with its fantastic "Situation Clitical" line that spread through the ears of fanboys like wildfire, becoming famous in the process. I remember seeing the ridiculous chest size of one of the characters (along with a jiggle that would make Jello proud) and the overall ecchiness, and promptly putting it down, never to see it again. After being sent a screener of Zwei, I don't really have much of a choice than to watch the first series in its entirety, eh? And thus, the review begins...

From the depths of the... See full review

There's no mistaking that Aoi Hana is exceptionally drop dead gorgeous. With watercolored backgrounds that appear to have been taken straight out of Iblard Jikan and a flawless mix of CG and regular animation, Aoi Hana would seem to be a must-see.Except that it's so, so incredibly boring that I almost cried alongside the characters in Aoi Hana, who also incessantly cry.To be clear, I like slow anime; Kino no Tabi, ... See full review

Story
I'm starting to think that each Detective Conan OVA is destined to become progressively worse. The first OVA was outstanding, the second was interesting, and from there on out they began to suck in various ways. Detective Conan: The Target is Kogoro! The Detective Boys' Secret Investigation (say that five times fast!) easily wins the award for the most boring, uninteresting Detective Conan OVA I've seen thus far. The first five minutes peg Detective Conan OVA 5 as being far more of a side story than a standalone feature. Sure, there's a mystery to be solved and bad guys to take... See full review

Story
Sometimes the first five minutes of an anime are all you need to know if it will bore or excite you; but sometimes, these precious minutes end up being nothing but the ultimate fake-out and disappointment. Bus Gamer, in true Ergo Proxy fashion, begins with a bang and a promise of an engaging, high-octane story to come - and then accidentally flushes itself down the toilet, never to be seen again. I loved Gantz. I loved Bokurano. I loved the 90s movie "The Game" starring Michael Douglas. Give me entertainment about people willingly or unwillingly stuck in a game with dire consequences... See full review

Story
Ahh, Ergo Proxy. You stole my heart like a thief in the night and promised such visions of grandeur that I could hardly wait to see what came next. Why, oh why, must you have disappointed me so? There are so many things wrong with Ergo Proxy that it's hard to begin. First, the parallels between it and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence are eerily uncanny; both have an empty and vacuous excuse of a story, combined with stunning visuals to distract you from the blatant stench. The problem is that while GITS2 was terrible from the get-go, Ergo Proxy begins with a drool-inducing bang that ends up being... See full review

Story
What do you get when you cross a bishounen vampire with a gun? Something that should have been a lot better than Legend of DUO!

I had heard nothing but negative things about this series before viewing, but decided to check it out for myself. While not nearly as bad as I’ve been seeing in reviews elsewhere, it definitely has many factors that make it not in my top 50. Story-wise, the best non-spoiling description can be found in the AniRec entry. Basically, humans are dying off and trying to hurt vampires to save themselves (for a reason that DUO shared to the humans, thus... See full review

Story
The story of Nadia takes place in the late 17th century, when planes are just starting to fly and inventions are being discovered every day. Jean is one of these inventors; he's fourteen, and lives in France with his uncle and aunt. Things in his life were fairly normal until Nadia drifted through town. Dark skinned and companions with a lion, Nadia was not only unusual, but was a sight for sore eyes, and Jean was instantly smitten. What he'd soon discover is that a wide variety of bad guys are after Nadia and her pendant known as the Blue Water... and thus the story begins.

Nadia... 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
HELLO, FUSHIGI YUUGI RIPOFF! Seriously, if you've seen FY, you'd recognize the similarity just based on the description above. Think of FY without the sappy romance, without whiny Miaka, and in 2 episodes, and you've got Harukanaru. Even though I hated FY, I still think it was better than this. Let's start with the fact that there are gaping plot holes a mile wide, and a story which jumps all over the place. It begins with Asuza and her two friends falling into the well, and then the opening music/scene plays. After, without any explanation, Azusa is wandering around with her companions (who... See full review

Story
Having seen all the other Shadow Skill series (TV, the OVA, and Epilogue), I was excited to see what this new OVA would be all about. All I knew is that it was 100% CG, but knew nothing about the story, music, or anything else.

Unfortunately, I walked away a little disappointed.

First of all, if you'd like to know how this fits in with the other Shadow Skill titles, please click the AniRec link above, then click the blue "i" for detailed information on relations, what order you should watch them in, and more.

This Shadow Skill title is fairly standalone... See full review