Gzerble

Is the *monogatari series finally played out? Koyomimonogatari kinda feels like it. It's not straight up ecchi nonsense with a few moments of cool... but it does feel more like a victory lap for a series that's wrapped up. The visuals, as usual, are stylistic and spectacular, just as we'd come to expect from the series. The audio is again on point. There are stories which are mildly supernatural in nature, but leaning more towards the mystery side of things. This is a reblurring of the lines between the supernatural and psychology, the dual-interpretation behind the series. While in the past, it has leaned... See full review

So, you've seen Bakemonogatari and have since been hooked on the series. Well, I was. Then you've either binge-watched or managed to at least watch a few of the other stories. Well, now we've reached Owarimonogatari and it still does the thing which made this series such a delight for suckers for quality art, mystery, and some occasional low-brow humor. This is not the best installation of the series. Yes, we get Araragi back, and his character is awesome. We're missing a lot of characters that made the series great, which sucks. But we have six episodes of a Shinobu arc, so big win here. If I haven't... See full review

Erased has been both hyped up and derided by plenty of people, and both are understandable. Like all shows with great hype, it tends to be polarizing. So allow me to give an audacious response to the show and say "it was pretty good". It isn't particularly deep, it isn't particularly clever, but most definitely the show isn't dumb, bad, or unsuccessful at what it tries. While not the tour de force of technical grace in writing and art, it is more than adequate and has moments of greatness in both departments. There is one main problem with this show. Steins;Gate is better. There, I said it. The... See full review

Welcome to yet another MMO story about a guy stuck in his video game. Here we have an overpowered protagonist who has his own private magical castle, superpowered minions who worship him, and a complete lack of drama. I guess that's enough to differentiate this from the .Hack series / Sword Art Online / Log Horizon bunch. So Overlord exists and is supposedly unique. Except it isn't. Going so far as to call Overlord absolute trash would be going too far. It's actually kind of decent for how generic and completely lacking drama it is. Like all stories with an overpowered protagonist, this is cheap fantasy... See full review

UN-GO is an overrated and ultimately a complete waste of time. It's a detective show, but utterly fails at using even the basic mystery strengths to make it better. It's a supernatural show, but that's more a fig-leaf to explain why it works than something actually meaningful. It's has social commentary, but that is kept at a grade school level and fails to go deep. In short, the series fails in achieving any of its (not particularly ambitious) goals. It will fool you into thinking it might be interesting during the first episode, but then UN-GO starts repeating itself, and then finally going for... See full review

Seikon no Qwaser II is a vortex of artistic merit, merilly sucking boobs I MEANT ANYTHING GOOD out of anime. It starts of with with nudity, continues with groping, and carries on with boobs I MEAN SHAMELESSLY EXPLOITATIVE scenes one after another. There's ecchi, and then there's boobs I MEANT BOOBS... dammit, I meant this boobs. Ugh. THIS SHOW. This is a low brow, shameless, pandering, hopelessly uncreative, dull, piece of rubbish lacking in everything even resembling proper anything. The "plot" is put to shame by your average softcore porn flic. "Gotta catch them... See full review

Welcome to the obligatory pool episode OVA. Hyouka does what every other series does when it doesn't feel like doing something with substance: puts the characters in bathing suits. Oh, there's a mystery. But it is so simple that you should pick up on it immediately. But hey, you finally get to see Chitanda in a bikini, so all's good right? The story of this episode is obviously weaker than any of the rest. Hyouka is supposedly about detective stuff, but really, they just wanted to get some fan service out of their system. While usually I praise a series for not having the hentai girls... See full review

Hyouka is yet another anime about a teen detective, and no, it is not one of the absolute best. It starts off very well, but loses steam around the middle. It's not like there's a real problem with the show, but it just ends up becoming less suspenseful and more easy-going yet without any sharp humor or drama. The attempt to make it a more open-ended series (and perhaps thinking sequels) in this case is a bit too obvious, and makes the show feel a bit pointless. In Hyouka the balance between nonsensical and serious tends to steer away from the deeper issues when being serious, which is quite a... See full review

We meet again Mecha, only this time, I am the master fed up with your BS. Sidonia no Kishi is obviously not the worst the genre has to offer (and if you don't cringe when thinking of bad mecha shows then something is wrong)... but does it deserve to actually be called good? Sorta. Maybe. Kinda. Perhaps. It may just be the combined loathing I have for the genre, but it is hard for me to truly love the show. There are plot holes, and by holes I mean "gaping", not tiny things you might not notice. The animation is mediocre at best, because despite it all, pure computer generated stuff... See full review

I really wished this show wouldn't suck. It plays things straight up, and when you do that, you better nail it. Yet Heroic Age manages to take the most cliche things from the Space Opera genre, copy-pastes some standard Mecha stuff, adds a dab of shounen, and ends up being annoying. There were so many points where it could have turned awesome by being somewhat clever, but it never did. Morons lead humanity? Lets give them more and more chances until they've cost thousands of lives, destroyed entire planets, and finally dealt a crippling blow to humanity's armed forces in the middle of a war for... See full review

Kokoro Connect: Michi Random is just another arc for the series, not anything that truly stands on its own. As such, there is no real tonal difference in everything except the reactions of one character. Still, we get more of the same, and the series is rather good overall. From a strict writing perspective, nothing has changed. It is yet another arc where supernatural hijinx throw a spanner into the lives of the same five characters. This time though, one of the charactes finally snaps, and Kokoro Connect: Michi Random deals mostly with the fallout. This comes instead of more exposition, as... See full review

In the past, I have hinted at, insinuated, understated, was rather mild about, spoke clearly of, written somewhat boldly, phrased a touch harshly, nearly used expletives while exclaiming, and ranted about how I dislike school romance stories and love triangles. Luckily, Kokoro Connect is actually rather good. It's yet another humoristic school life series with supernatural elements, a dab of romance and a love triangle. Yes, another one of those. Fortunately, Kokoro Connect is well executed. The humor is good fun, the character development clever (if a bit rushed at times), and the plot... See full review

The premise? Awesome. Ideas? Great. Artwork? Excellent. Depth? There. Character development? Yup. Overall? Meh. There were so many things going for Kyousougiga that it really hurts me to say that it is just a nice thing to waste time with. It isn't that it is a bad series, it is rather good. But the show had potential to be up there with the very best in anime history and squanders that with impunity. Really, how do you foul up something with so much potential? Well, you start by making the main character an annoying brat who solves things by hitting them with a giant mallet. You continue with... See full review

Aoi Bungaku Series is by definition pretentious. There is nothing that panders more to literary snob than modern renditions of classic tales. Any tale that is considered a classic can be detached from the setting and redone in a completely different interpretation and still hold up; Heart of Darkness was remade as the classic Apocalypse Now, The Odyssey was remade as Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, and everything Shakespeare ever did is still being recycled. So the big question here is the execution, did they take the stories and make them approachable by our standards. And the answer to that question... See full review

Jyu Oh Sei is surprisingly decent. It is a solid mix of soft and hard science fiction, taking influences from Lord of the Flies and Starship Troopers (the book, and not the action bits) more than from other anime. What makes it pard hard scifi is the reliance on the world to create the plot. What makes it soft scifi is the way the characters stand on their own and are not just guides to the story but rather the story is about them specifically. Usually, this hybrid approach backfires spectacularly as they are rather contradictory in style. Perhaps it would have been a more daring choice to go the hard... See full review

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan should have been funny and isn't. If you want another yet another ecchi parody. It has another standard doormat male lead that constantly gets beat up and made fun of, that for some unknown reason girls like. Fan service appears, but the bad animation doesn't allow it to shine. The voice acting is terrible, and proudly so. The female lead's voice is downright annoying. The crude animation doesn't help. It is stupid beyond measure in the entire approach. For a 2005 anime, it looks far older than it should. Even the visual gags are outdated. Really, there is no artistic... See full review

Really, when a guy being a crossdressing zombie magical girl just stops being funny, then a series should end. Kore wa Zombie desu ka? Of the Dead beats the humor from the first season into the ground. It makes up for it with the easy solution of even more fan service. So here we are, with a much more standard ecchi show. Now, how could I truly complain? Well, easily. The writing is crap and the art somewhat above standard but on a subject that has been done to death. There is no rational reason for a second season of this, and it manages to ruin the fresh and cute feel of the first season by removing... See full review

Kore wa Zombie desu ka? is a show about a crossdressing zombie magical girl. Yes, a male crossdressing zombie magical girl. Allow me to repeat that. A crossdressing zombie magical girl who is a man. This is a parody of course, but still it needs to be said: a frickin' male zombie who crossdresses when he's a magical girl. Needless to say, the premise is awesome. Add in egregious amounts of fan service as fit for any ecchi show, and Kore wa Zombie desu ka? probably just wrote itself. Situational comedy is pretty easy when you are talking about a male zombie who is also a... See full review

K is utter garbage and tries to hide it in the dumbest ways. In fact, the seriousness the show tries to hide behind makes it no more than a seven year old trying to be intimidating. The show is laughably bad on so many levels. The characters are unoriginal and made of suck, the plot is stupid and full of holes with lame twists, and relying on a naked catgirl to give personality to the show is about as good as it gets. The animation is with few exceptions subpar, and what little good there is in the soundtrack gets run into the ground by how it's overused. The problem is that K relies heavily many... See full review

People say that Welcome to the NHK! stops being funny and goes for the strictly depressing route starting 11-12 episodes in. I just think that the show changes focus a bit, to things people find easier to understand as dark. The jokes at the start leans more to "watch the character overreact in hilarious ways" and less to dark humor, but the point is that those aren't "overrations", they are an extension of how damaged he is. This show has very dark humor, and we get used to to the quirks and are forced to face it. Many shows claim to be dark but aren't. There are plenty of shows... See full review

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is yet another ridiculously foul mouthed and over the top parody of magical girls. That being said, it is an extremely good one at what it does. It has plenty of western influences, and relentlessly mocks whatever anime cliches it has (including those of parodies). What can be said is that the show is hilarious. The humor isn't gentle, but the occasional clever quip slips in. Though usually, it comes down to dirty jokes and foul language. Boy is the language foul in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. The fan service and sexual innuendo of magical girls is... See full review

Silver Spoon's second season carries on where the first left off, completing the transition from episodic into semi-episodic with a heavy emphasis on underlying theme. This is a good thing, even if it removes some of the slice of life emphasis and moves it more on the characters. This is done by pushing the main female side character into a full female lead role. While in some ways, it takes away from the special spice that Silver Spoon had in the first season, it is the natural way to develop. There are trials and tribulations, the characters get some real development, and yet the show retains a... See full review

A slice of life series about a kid moving from the big city to an agricultural school. You heard me right. There is nothing else to it. So, what begs to be asked is "how is Silver Spoon so good?!" over and over. It is no mystery. Solid writing that is aimed at all ages, well executed art, and a ton of charm led by a strong audio department. It doesn't try to be too subtle, a mistake common to the slice of life genre, but remains a nice combination of goofy and light hearted fun. What makes Silver Spoon so good is that it retains just the right amount of focus. It is a character driven... See full review

Welcome to Gosick Kamisama no Memo-chou, a story about a reclusive female super-detective with a small doll-like body and long hair that has the normal guy protagonist as her foil with a hint of school stuff in the background. Yes, this is Gosick without the unique setting and the body count. That being said, it is a great mold to follow, and the series does a rather good show of it. What Kamisama no Memo-chou does that differs from the mold it clearly stole ripped off borrowed is that the cast is more balanced from the get go, it takes a far more mundane approach, and the setting... See full review

Chihayafuru was not original except the premise. Chihayafuru 2 is decidedly unorignal to the extreme with its super narrow focus on one tournament and that's it. Where the first season had a light hearted feel, the second season forgoes that in order to become completely derivative. There are only so many times that you can see an early drawback become a victory before it stops doing anything more than annoy you. The premise has officially outworn its welcome. Like the first season, the artwork is top notch and gives the writing a depth it shouldn't have. But the difference is that now it... See full review

Here we are with yet another series about high school students determined to reach their goals. The humor isn't particularly good when it makes a showing, the drama isn't particularly dramatic. The characters aren't particularly likable. The story, as mentioned, is part of the same cookie cutter cliche that so many others are from. And yet, Chihayafuru has a unique charm. The fact that it is dealing with poetry is magnificent for any literature geek, and the episode where they delved a bit into the meaning behind the words made me love the theme. Once you like the theme, and even begin to... See full review

I don't know why I watched this. Toradora SOS! is a steaming pile of subhuman excrement. It is quite honestly the work of people saying "Toradora fans are stupid, make fun of them". Yeah well, I'm not a fan, and I find that meta-joke stupid. The lack of a real joke in order to have some silly meta-value makes it non-meta-crap. This is chibi figures being stupid, voiced stupidly, and that's it. There is nothing more to this. It is the equivalent of someone going "hurrr" for a few minutes and then it ends. I suppose there is some value to people making fun of both Toradora and the fans of... See full review

It took me exactly three minutes to understand that I will like Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei a lot. It took me up to ten minutes into the second episode to find that I'll love it. By the third episode I was hooked. This is a series that combines Groundhog Day with a dash of Bakemonogatari and Welcome to the NHK! in a fresh and unique way. This is a perfect series to describe the second coming of age in a man's life, not from a boy to a young adult, but from a young adult into a part of something greater than himself. While Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is not unique in this way, as there are... See full review

People seem to like Seirei no Moribito and it eludes me as to why. The plot sucks, the animation is nothing special, the characters crap, and the sound repetitive. Oh, it's not quite as derivative as your average low brow shounen martial arts series. It isn't that the show is absolute garbage, but it is still bad. What is supposed to be the added value over the average adventure series for Seirei no Moribito is the character driven side to it. Unluckily, it is executed in the most standard way and not actually good at that. The cliche plot doesn't help either, but isn't actually a problem all... See full review

Slice of life is a bit too big for three minute bits. Perhaps bite of life would be better? I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying is a romantic comedy told in short three minute installations focusing on the mundane life of an odd couple. The entire premise is light hearted fluff that will make you smile... and that it does wonderfully. Really, this is humor about a married couple at its finest. They don't know each other perfectly, and both adore and get annoyed by each other's quirks. They aren't perfect, can't always understand each other, have different interests, but love each other to... See full review