Gzerble

You know, it really is hard to judge a recap on its own merit. Especially when it is a recap of one of the most innovative shows of the past decade. A lot of fat is trimmed, and what we have is a tight package that is more uptempo than the series. Of course, the worst part is that Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Movie 1: Hajimari no Monogatari takes everything that is the setup for the dramatic climax of the series, with only the mild payoff. The lack of the climactic ending ultimately means that the story doesn't achieve the heights the original series does, and the characters gain less... See full review

... and here is where the studio chickened out. If you've reached this far into Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai then you know what the inevitable conclusion was. They tease with it a bit, but in the end, the studio didn't do it. This is where the entire plot goes down the drain. Character development becomes irrelevant. There is a conclusion that would be brave in mainstream anime, and the studio cowers rather than try and be that audacious. Don't get me wrong, I'd be disturbed myself from that, but I'd also cheer for it. In the end, the entire second season was pushing to it... See full review

The first season of Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai had a lovely premise because of the complexity of relationship between characters. The second season just drops all the ambiguity and complexity in favor of giving us some brother/sister loving. Where in the first season it may have been some attraction that both sides didn't acknowledge or let interfere with their lives, here it is the driving force behind everything. It is a shame that Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai ended up as a harem with a felling of impending incest all the way through as the main... See full review

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai Specials takes off where the first season ended. It's just a few episodes, mild character development, and essentially more of the same... just without the main female character. The balance of the cast is harmed, as the character growth doesn't make up for the hole left by one less character. While a bit more plot heavy than the first season, this ultimately backfires spectacularly in the Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai Specials. The vision that made the first season so annoyingly fun is harmed. Don't get me wrong, it is still not a real... See full review

Damn it. Damn it to hell. I somewhat loathe myself for enjoying Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai as much as I did. Other than the thinly veiled combination of harem with a little sister focus and a self-deprecating bit of humor about people who enjoy anime, this show made my testosterone take a break. This is all-out girly fun. And I had a blast. Damn it. Once again we have the lovable loser as the male protagonist with a cliche tsundere little sister that beats the crap out of him as he grits his teeth and takes her abusive behavior with good humor. There are the classic gothic loli, shy... See full review

People speak highly of To Aru Majutsu no Index and I don't get why. The action is good(ish), I suppose. There are some character things that happen. There are some plot twists that are... well, there. We get light hearted fun and occasional fan service, and on the other hand the darker parts are also there giving diversity. A variety of superpowers, secretive organizations, recurring characters, and the occasional villain of the day. It has everything a show should have. Everything should have clicked together and made for a fun view. Perhaps this is the opinion of someone who has watched too... See full review

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet is a show with split personality. This show can't decide if it is philosophical or mundane, action or slice of life, deep or casual, plot based or character driven. Like any psychological condition, it sounds interesting but is actually frustrating to the extremes to deal with. It ends up feeling that it is half-baked in everything it does. The philosophy is cheap, and we don't get a true feel for the world, the action feels out of place and the slice of life boring, it isn't really deep but isn't casual fun, the plot ends up pointless and the characters flat. Or... See full review

So, a redhead, a girl with huge boobs, and a nun walk into a bar. Replace bar with school, and you've got the premise for Seikon no Qwaser. Fan service is too gentle a phrase for what goes on here. Other than "suck boobs to get superpowers", a loli dominatrix and her school girl slave, a nun that shows her tits every show, girls lusting over a thirteen year old boy, maid outfits, bath scenes, there are the explicit sex scenes including bondage, rape, and incest. Let us not forget the memorable showing of the masochist incest twins, tit-lasers, and butch-nun. Oh, the list goes on, these are just... See full review

Cencoroll is some simple fun that goes nowhere. That is all it is, and all it strives to be. That isn't a bad thing, but actually is rather nice. The monsters are kinda cool I suppose. The characters manage to be a mixed bag even in such short a time. Still, there is some charm to it. Is it worth twenty seven minutes of your time? Eh. Maybe. It doesn't merit any more talk that that.

I really like Alien Nine. It is ridiculously over the top. The protagonist seems to be the only sane person that acts like a sixth grade girl should in a bizarre world (fearing for her life and disliking aliens that are either hostile or lick her). And boy is the world shamelessly that. There is no attempt at making things even slightly realistic. The character designs are simplistic, the soundtrack is rather nice, the aliens are pretty cool. The plot proudly ranges from silly to stupid to downright disturbing. The casual way people treat aliens is hilarious. Jobs for students include things like hall... See full review

Angst for the sake of angst is one of the things that appeals to a certain audience. There is a huge difference between that and tragedy. What we have here is not tragedy. There are tragic circumstances in Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin and yet it manages to slip into melodramatic angst rather than give anything deeper. The whole grim and gritty premise with grim and gritty characters in grim and gritty situations just becomes repetitive. Oh I get it. Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin tries to overdose us on testosterone and bromance. Everything from the opening theme to the... See full review

Zankyou no Terror starts out with a bang, and carries on with gusto. The character driven elements aren't particularly deep, the mystery aspect isn't too intelligent... still, the show manages plenty of tension and action. The soundtrack adds just enough energy to keep the pace up, but the changes in scenes at time feel abrupt due to it. The rapid changes in pace and tension are both a strength and weakness, keeping the viewer's attention while at times not allowing the viewer to get into a rhythm. Things are at times waved off with "don't think about it", giving subtle hints to the backstory... See full review

House of Five Leaves has plenty of style. If that style is good is a matter of taste. On one side, it is particularly pretentious, and on the other hand it manages to pull it off. Still, it is more something that one would want to like rather than actually likeable. The opening theme is a rather annoying synthpop piece, but the soundtrack is heavily influenced by traditional Japanese music. The main character is both annoying in his cowardice yet elicits a surprising amount of sympathy. These contrasts are all around the show, and give it a very unique feel. There is plenty to like about the mature... See full review

Famously, the Turing Test is the way to measure if an artificial intelligence is on par with a human one. The premise is simple: if experts cannot distinguish between an AI and a person in conversation, is there any meaningful difference in the interaction between them? Does that not mean that the AI is human enough for the difference to be irrelevant? Isaac Asimov in his science fiction writing defined "the three laws of robotics", which later became a guiding light for androids in science fiction. The first law is that a robot must at any cost protect human life. The second law states that... See full review

I really shouldn't have enjoyed Katanagatari nearly as much as I did. There are so many flaws to point out that it would be a futile task to list them all without writing a longer text than that of the script. And yet, it does so many things right that somehow it manages to overcome each and every one. In short, whatever issues there are in the series, it makes up for them with a load of personality. Graceful would be the absolute worst fit of a word to describe how this works, but perhaps intelligent... not that either. It just works out somehow. Don't ask me how. The texts resort to cliches, but make up... See full review

Objectively speaking, Sword Art .Hack//SIGN Log Horizon is yet another show about people stuck in a MMORPG, and its premise is quite dull. Keeping with a grounded assessment, this show is basically a character driven story with a MMORPG / strange world shell. As such, it is a failure on both fronts. There are far too many characters for there to be any significant character development, and while it is clever enough to explain some MMO sociology, it is in essence an average show with a few moments of glory. As opposed to other MMORPG based works, Log Horizon drops a lot of the Shounen style of... See full review

Shinsekai Yori (aka From the New World) is excellence personified in many ways. Everything is very maturely crafted, from the measured pace and stuble writing to the many backgrounds and the choice for a colorful and clean aesthetic without going with the modern neon/forceful design. This is first a foremost a hard scifi story, meaning that it is about world-building and has an inherent philosophical nature. The characters themselves are tools for which the story is carried out, and even in the artwork, the animation is secondary to the backgrounds as the voice acting is to the soundtrack and effects. It is... See full review

Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is a mediocre show that doesn't take itself seriously. The story is utter rubbish, the characters are annoying, the animation is purposefully simplistic to downright crude at times, and the sound is cartoonish to the extreme. Luckily, the complete self-awareness of this show makes it a passable view. This isn't a show for everyone, obviously. Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is in essence one of those shows you watch, enjoy, and forget as soon as you see them. The plot is not captivating, the characters aren't memorable, the animation... See full review

Second seasons are a hit or miss thing in most cases. They either elevate something or fail to live up to expectations, and only very rarely manage to keep the premise interesting enough to be more of the same and yet satisfying. When it comes to Sword Art Online, we get more of the same with a slightly different premise. It does things a little bit differently, but is essentially more of the same - for better and worse. Similar to the first season, there is also a split into a first (the major) arc and a secondary one to follow up. A lot of people criticize the first major arc as not living up to the... See full review

Sword Art Online is a very polarizing anime. On one side, there are the fans of the show which think it is the greatest thing since World of Warcraft. On the other side, the people who dislike it see it as a symbol of everything wrong in the world of anime, and possibly an early sign of the apocalypse. I will take the brave road and say: eh, SAO is ok. It isn't great, it isn't bad. One thing that can be said is that Sword Art Online is a victim of its own ambition. World building is a tough business, and you need a delicate balance between focus in order to keep things coherent and breadth in... See full review

Highschool of the Dead is just what you might think from the name, though perhaps Panty Shot: Zombie Apocalypse would have been closer to the mark. Zombies and highschool girls everywhere. Very rarely do zombie themed works stray from the grim formula, but luckily, this is one of them. I love zombie flicks (always have), and I especially adore when they are clever enough not to take themselves seriously. Naturally, this is my kind of show. There are egregious amounts of fan service, from the endless amounts of panty shots, the inevitable bath scene, slow motion jiggling, borderline pornographic... See full review

Some shows are predictable and badly written. Usually, with the right artwork and enough self-awareness, this doesn't matter in the least if you just want to have fun. Unfortunately, Guilty Crown is not fun, and therefore not good. The show is an exercise in mediocrity and tired cliches, without the tongue in cheek self awareness that makes something truly fun. There is a lack of anything memorable that will have you forgetting the series while watching it. That being said, Guilty Crown is not completely terrible. It is yet another generic show, executed professionally yet without any unique... See full review

I'll start with the positives. The artwork in No Game No Life is absolutely fantastic. From still art and character designs, fluid motion, clever use of gimmicks to add impact, a fun and well used soundtrack, all the way to the highly characterized voice acting, everything screams professionalism and high production values. Those guys at Madhouse know what they're doing, because seriously, this is top tier stuff. Just don't expect the writing to be any good or for anything to be more than superficially interesting, and you'll be fine. You'll get doses of humor, action, fan service, cute things, high... See full review

Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is exactly what its name implies. It is a gory horror bit, totalling under two hours... and is very good at what it does. There is suspense, there are people cracking under the psychological pressure, there are creepy supernatural themes, and most of all, while the gore is there (and plentiful), it doesn't devolve into straight-up hacking and slashing. Well produced and thought out horror is a rarity. When it doesn't try to be pretentious yet isn't about kill-all-undead, then it can be seriously enjoyable. Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is just that. The name makes it... See full review

All right you sick bastards, you want explicit sex and violence? You got it. Luckily, I too am a sick bastard that enjoys explicit sex and violence in my anime, so I won't be too hard on Mnemosyne. Not for that at least. Mnemosyne starts off spectacularly, and ends up an incoherent mess that relies on sex and gore to distract from the fact that the writing fell apart. Still, it is rather unique and has a few moments of glory for people other than sick bastards like us. I'll say what needs to be said: the first four chapters are excellent on every single level. While there is sex and violence, borderline... See full review

Parodies only work if they're funny. Luckily, Puni Puni Poemy delivers as possibly the funniest parody of Hentai ever. The artwork is crude, the writing is cruder, the pace is fast to a ridiculous degree. It makes fun of magical girls, their skimpy outfits, and semi-pornographic tranformation scenes, lolicon, ecchi, yuri, bondage, tentacles, and everything else you could think of. In short, this is a parody of all that and of itself at the same time. The entire thing is garbage of the worst kind, and proudly so. It revels in the fact that there is a complete lack of dignity, class, or style to every single... See full review

"DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!!!@#!" - Villains' battlecry (JoJo's Bizzare Adventure). Ridiculous battlecries, poses stupid beyond belief, cinematography that insults the intelligence, people shouting the name of the "secret technique" they are using and then explaining it, inconsistent logic, strategies that have nothing to do with winning and everything about "drama", training sequences, overly serious narration, idiotic monologs, situations which defy not only common but every convoluted sense, stock characters, a plot lacking drama, no character development... Oh, Shounen, how... See full review

Humanity Has Declined is on the surface a super-cute show with some super-cute mysteries. But the secret to the show is actually in the name. Every single two-episode arc focuses on a different part of the troubles of society. The scathing critique is hidden behind colorful and simpistic art, cheerful voice acting, childish humor, a positive soundtrack, friendship, and cutesy metaphors. The self-destructive nature of consumerism, shallowness of culture, loss of connection to reality, the search for self definition, and more get their moment in the particularly bright sun. Of course none of the metaphors... See full review

"Oh, I get it. Very clever. How's that working out for you?" - Tyler Durden (Fight Club). Kill La Kill is plain stupid. Kill La Kill tries too hard to be stupid, to the point where you can imagine the staff patting themselves on the back and chuckling "we're so clever, aha, aha, ahaha". The overly self-aware, parody of everything itself included, smug, try-hard ideas behind this anime ultimately are nothing more than an intellectual curiosity that fails to be anything other than repetitive garbage with style. They are a refrigerator with plenty of condiments but no... See full review

Eden of the East is actually not bad. That being said, it is not good either. There is no particular fault in anything (except perhaps the female lead's nose which is annoying as hell), and yet there is no real impact to anything. The opening is brilliant, one of the greatest ones ever. Naked guy waving a gun around (who seems to be a rather friendly bloke), that's just about as awesome a hook as you can get. The problem is that there is no payoff. The ending is supposed to be an original and beautiful thing, encapsulating the deamer's spirit and whatnot. Call me a cynic, but I didn't really care for it... See full review