This is basically the first installment of Death Parade, which for years, left many unanswered questions, especially about the ending and is most prized by its shock value. However, all these questions will be answered in Death Parade.

Within Death Parade timeline this movie fits better between Episodes 5-7, however, I rather recommend you watch first, in release order. This is because the answers that explain how everything works come quickly in episode 2, so this movie won't have the same effect knowing everything that's going on.

Also, the ending of this movie will make more sense once you watch the TV Series.

'Overall I was very impressed. Like I have stated, the art and animation was beautiful, the characters felt so real, and the story is entirely enthralling and rather refreshing. If you have a spare half an hour just watch it.' -Risan07

This anime deserves a Dub!

This is a very different anime from the norm. I would place it closer to Haibane Renmei (about the meaning of our lives and the afterlife) than to high stakes game shows like Gantz, Alice in Borderland, Kaiji; and even its predecessor, Death Billiards (which focuses more in shock value). This is because although there are plenty of high stakes games, violence, and shock moments, that is not the focus of the show, but rather, How do we judge our lives? and Who has the right to do so? These are some of the questions that are at the center of the plotline.

It is a show that requires you to pay attention to details and critically analyze the judgments and what's going on in their world in order to truly understand it (some of the bad reviews seem to come from people that didn't quite understood the plot or its meaning).

'Have you ever wondered what happens after you die? Where do you go? Do you go to heaven? Hell? Are you reincarnated? Or, do you simply cease to exist? In Death Parade we get to see their version of an answer ... and it's a fascinating one!

Any normal person, when put under pressure like these people are, will break apart. I think that's honestly one of the biggest reasons that this anime succeeded. It didn't shy away from how flawed we are as humans and, instead, exploited those flaws. It was captivating! 

I highly recommend Death Parade for anyone looking for a good psychological anime!' -duchessliz

The dub is awesome!

So story this starts like any other game anime with the main character trapped in that world and the first part feels like watching an expert play a new RPG game with already established tactics and strategies to beat the game, furthermore, the main character is really overpowered.

So what's good about this anime and how is it different from other RPG based animes, like Sword Art Online?

1. The main character is one of the very few players left in this world, therefore he is extremely overpowered compared to all NPCs with godlike powers even able to resuscitate the dead. For a change, the MC is supposed to be an Evil Overlord, so to maintain his status, even his good actions towards humans in this world must be considered from the point of view to make him some profit or be beneficial to him somehow, which is both clever and funny. However, there is a lack of empathy toward humans which he is aware of mentally, but he attributes it to be a side effect of being in this world and this is one of the mysteries in the series.

2. In this world, all NPCs have become alive, but the overlord seems to keep treating them as if they were regular NPCs (probably due to his lack of empathy) and he just cares about his own clan and very few humans. So in a way, he is still just playing the game, but from the point of view of you, the viewer, and the NPCs perspective this sometimes leads to questionable situations that makes you wonder if this is really the best approach to take and makes you question the consequences his actions will take in the future as the massacres and gore unleash upon characters that are pretty much alive with an engaging story to tell. This is perhaps the best part of the show. What would you do if you have so much power yourself? There are certainly many comparables that can be made here and many analogies to real life.

3. There are many characters in this world and even minor/secondary characters have their stories to tell and those stories are told from the perspective of these characters rather than the MCs point of view. In fact, most of the 2nd season is spent with secondary characters, while the MC only appears when necessary for their story. This approach works perfectly to keep the show fresh, entertaining, world-building, and be able to explore new ideas. Done this way, this show has the potential to be a very long series with many seasons to come, although if only based on the Light Novel, then there are only 4 more volumes left of original material after Season 3.

4. Finally, there is plenty of action, gore, and use of strategies & tactics for fighting.

The dub is awesome!

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

For me, this season is average and very predictable. We see more of the same with very little character development and too many Albedo annoying moments. Apparently, the source material has many interlocking stories from all characters, but for the anime, they decided to go with a classic linear story for each character, so perhaps we have to wait for future seasons to really get the whole picture of what we see happening here.

Let me start by noting that this is the final anime by Studio Manglobe before succumbing to bankruptcy, so the story is left incomplete in the middle of a battle with no end in sight. This is the main reason for complaints and bad reviews for this show.

However, I think is still worth watching. The animation quality alone may be enough for some as it uses realistic character styles and a bright and sharp color palette. The story in this first part is almost like a Gangster Slice-of-Life with their day to day errands and has plenty of fights and tense moments. Their world reminds me of Black Lagoon town full of low-lives and dangerous alleys. The music and sound effects are excellent quality, on par with the animation. It is just too bad that we don't get to see the full potential of this show, hopefully, another studio will pick it up someday but I'm not holding my breath. I will still advocate that is better to see it and give it a try, despite knowing its shortcomings.

'First off, this show is not for the faint of heart. Gangsta contains a number of mature themes, including drug use, prostitution, and physical/sexual abuse. That being said, Gangsta does an excellent job of dealing with these topics. Rather than glossing over or glamorizing them like many mafia style anime, the show uses these issues to thoroughly develop its characters and explain their motivations. The fact that it prominently features a deaf character who isn't stereotyped or portrayed as weak is another bonus. Nicholas might not be able to hear, but he can still kick ass! My only complaint is that the ending is a cliffhanger, since the studio went bankrupt and was unable to produce a second season. Despite that, Gangsta is well worth a watch. Be prepared to laugh and cry in the same episode.' -otaku84

The dub is one of the best I have heard.

In the medieval era, there were armies that face each other in close combat with thousands of thousands of soldiers. How will these large armies fare against our current technology and war practices? What if the medieval army will include fantasy characters including dragons & trolls? How will a Jet Plane do against that? This is the setting that cleverly compares our current warfare practices, including human rights, against how we used to live, treated prisoners of war, and the cultural shock of facing a technologically advanced society.

I found it an interesting setting full of political intrigues and diplomatic issues that are as relevant now as they were back then. The show has light-hearted moments but it doesn't shy away to show the massacres of war as consequences of the decisions made by the people in power. It is a good comparison that shows how much we have advanced not only in military power but also in the responsibility for how to use and deploy those weapons. The show tries to keep a positive view and only shows the good side of military interventions trying to maintain a compassionate perspective, perhaps trying to exemplify the right way to execute the power these weapons give us (this part does not seems very believable but it sure will be good if things happened this way).

This show is a good deviation from the norm, I wouldn't say is perfect, but it's certainly entertaining and does many things well enough to keep it original.

'The adaptation of the setting and plot isn't bad. It's a good mix between Isekai or stranger in a strange land fantasy (hero summons) and modern Japanese SDF and otaku cultures.

The source material would be rated seinen, as in dealing with mature themes from the 20-30 age grouping. However A-1 Pictures chose to use a tone adaptation and downgraded it to everyone or teenage ratings, which means some of the more crazy parts were cut out or modified...

Overall the fantasy/medieval setting is done well. It's a more gritty, historical, period in which sieges and aristocrats dominated military tactics. If anyone wanted to know what would happen if you threw a modern army formation back into the past, with semi unlimited ammo logistics, whether they could take on demi gods, dragons, and aristocratic based militaries... this is a good anime to start with.' -Ymarsakar

The dub is not so good, especially for the main protagonist, so I definitely recommend the sub.

Continuation of the story.

This is an excellent sarcastic comedy in the same type of humor as Gintama, Level-E and Tentai Senshi Sunred, using a superhero setting and excellent graphics that go beyond a regular comedy and even action shows do. The character designs are awesome too. Unfortunately, the show is also very overhyped, it is not as good in the comedy like the other shows I mention (as the jokes are very predictive), there is little action at times, and there is no main plot, as much of the stories are simply episodic. So watch it for the entertainment value alone and excellent animation.

'The show takes a satirical approach at the whole monster of the week type of show and pulls it off so masterfully. The contrasting characters all stood out and I really want to get to know more about them, personally Saitama is my least favorite. While I absoultly love his look, with the old school anime superhero suit and cape he seems more like the kill switch than a person. He is the fully relized hero...' -Vorosh

The dub is ok.

Extra stories that are connected to some episodes.

A prequel story showing one of Saitama's early adventures.

Continuation of the story. This time we finally got the main plot but is left inconclusive, waiting for another season.

Although this show loses the MadHouse eye-candy and is plagued with other technical issues, the story is still good, but if you were watching for the graphics alone, then you'll be disappointed. Some choices the characters make don't really make sense, so there are some writing issues for some characters as well. I'm not sure how accurate this season is to the manga story.

This was a nice surprise, it starts as an average fantasy anime, but in reality, it is a mystery series that manages to keep a good level of suspense and offers a good puzzle for the mind. The story does not progress much after the puzzle, it just resets to the beginning, so the mystery is the focus of the show, as such, this will appeal more to people who like mysteries and solving puzzles, rather than fantasy fans. If you are not thinking along the characters to solve the puzzle, then you may not enjoy this show, as that is all there is to it.

'What makes this Anime interesting is that the adventure itself is mostly an introduction to the world and the main characters, after which it will turn into a mystery anime where they discover that 1 of them is a 'fake' hero and they will need to find out who it is before they all die. During the mystery arc, the best part is that the darkest sides of a person will show up and life will start to seem much cheaper as killing a fellow human is something they don't think twice about.

The only issue I find is that it feels like it was cut short because from the Opening it was obvious that this story was intending to go far further than the Mystery aspect which took up half the anime.. But this compact story with a GREAT twist at the end is a must watch in my honest opininon.' -Geenius3ab

The dub is good.

This is a show with excellent plot twists that moves the X-Men Mutant-Powers genre into new directions, however, the execution is not perfect as it suffers from pacing & character development issues, but is still a worth watch. The show starts like many animes in a school setting with missions in an episodic structure, but midway evolves into something new with a darker story.

'The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda... Charlotte is the second original anime series created by Key following Angel Beats! in 2010.' -Wikipedia

'Story wise, it is attention grabbing and exciting. Theoretically though it's a lot of ideas that don't have much preface. It's jam packed and I personally enjoyed it, but I can definitely see why it'd throw a lot of people off. To put in prospective (without spoilers) I thought we were following a formula by episode 5, yet in episode 12 I thought we were being set up for another season. (i'm glad it's not), but the final episode had enough in it to its own season! Take that for pacing! So really pacing is the worst part of this and why the story doesn't score higher. But as an actual story it's intriguing and diverse. Oh and you get resolution. So although the anime is awful at rising actions and falling actions, we do have the highs and lows, climax (which is hard to define as just one) and resolution.' -kotokuki

The dub is ok.

This is a show about vampires like no other due to it's setting and its mythology, which mixes angels, demons & vampires. But at the core, this is a story of oppression and freedom, also with a strong theme of family/friendship bonds. 

This show definitely had a lot of potential, and seem to have been planned as a long-running series, however, the problem is that is no longer running :( and although the arc finishes completely, it leaves a big cliffhanger for the main story, after the introduction of a big plot twist that moves the plot in a new direction. This is one of the major causes of complaints and bad reviews. To this, I'll have to add that the second part of the first season feels a lot like filler material, lowering the quality of the fights choreography & animation, and wastes a lot of time in nonsense. The show only picks up again in the second season. These ups and lows are also a source of bad reviews. Still, if you like the vampire, shounen, or its mythology, then I recommend you give it a try, as there are many things this show does well, and in the end, it's a story that tries to innovate although not always succeeds.

On a different note, this show has been compared a lot to Attack on Titan, but that is an oversimplification, 'monsters are attacking!' that is the extent of the similarities. This more likely happens because the show came at a time everyone was waiting to fill the gap between the first & second seasons of AoT, so every show was being compared to AoT, even if it's minimal.

'You want my attention, you got it. The first episode pulls you in immediately from the very beginning. I didn’t need any character or background information to understand what was going on which is what makes a good opening along with starting the story right away instead of introducing everything before actually starting. I quickly understood the characters, felt for them, and understood the situation.

Overall the story pulls you in from the beginning and while it may not always be strong, it moves at a decent pace and keeps the interest.' -PurplePeopleEater

'Seraph of the End (Owari no Seraph) was a very well-done anime that stressed the important of family and friends. The story is very simple: humans want to exterminate vampires, vampires want to make the humans submissive. The animation was great. If you're looking for beautiful scenery, you will see very little of it here lol. Still, the art and smooth movements were great. Since this is a post-apocolyptic setting, there's lots of rubble and fallen buildings of course. The characters are pretty well made. Each of them has their own personality, but I feel like some of them could have had a little more depth.' -YasT

The dub is very good.

Continuation of the story.

This was a nice surprise, a movie with a different setting, purpose, and plot than your average anime. It is a kid's movie, simple to understand and entertaining.

'I love this movie so much because the plot is so meaningful & I can actually relate on a spiritual level to both of the main characters... This movie in my opinion also has one of the best character developments for any animated movie, both of the main characters change drastically & I love it because you can honestly see that they develop in a good way based off of eachother.' -phatweeb

'This movie was surprisingly philosophical and psychological under the hood, so to speak. The way I see it, it gives some perspective into how to deal with mental and emotional growing pains and how to take control of yourself. Most of the story can be interpreted in a metaphorical way, and the movie isn't obnoxiously difficult to read in that sense. More important than decoding some hidden meaning is the feeling and outlook that the story gives: it should already be quite helpful and basically conveys the same things. In any case, the song playing during the credits will spell it out for you.' -Celeriac

The dub is good.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - Watching Guide

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - Chronological Order

This is a simple Fantasy/RPG anime show, it's quite overhyped, but it's indeed fun, entertaining and well-executed, but nothing new in terms of story. This first season is just like a video-game and what you see in the first 2 episodes will be the rest of the show, so if you don't like those you won't enjoy the rest. Fantasy & game fans will definitely enjoy this show, but everyone else may give it a try and decide within a few episodes to continue or not.

Sword Oratoria: Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side happens concurrently to the First Season but from the perspective of the Sword Princess and her team. The events intersect when they cross paths with Bell's Team. This story is average, so I cannot recommend, but if you loved the First Season then you may like it.

The OVA is only a fan-service mediocre story as well.

'Generic, but still entertaining. Unfortunately has RPG elements forcefully shoehorned in, but that comes with the territory. A lot less fan service and perversion than I thought there would be, which is good. It did have its moments though. The characters are likeable, especially the protag, and the pacing isn't too fast or slow. Solid fantasy show with some superfluous power level mechanics.' -motrous

The dub is ok.

Continuation of the story.

This season has 2 Main Arcs. I'm very fond of the First Arc (Episodes 1-4), however, the rest of the season has a lot more fan-service & harem which detracts from the story, making it feel more like a filler arc and is average at best.

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

This was quite a surprise, originally I postpone watching this movie because I thought it was just going to be another overrated high school slice-of-life romance, but it turns out I was quite wrong about that.

This movie deals with the unintentional scars we leave on people when we don't mind our own words, especially to the people we care about, and the words that come out unfiltered at those times we lose control of ourselves. In short, is all about learning to be assertive!

The story provides excellent examples of cause & effect and how to talk things through to amend our mistakes. Besides that, I found the movie entertaining with the regular slice-of-life, there is also some romance that does not fall under common cliches for a change. The music and animation are both excellent too.

I should also mention that this is from the same team that did Anohana: The Flower We Saw that Day & Toradora!.

'The story of The Anthem of the Heart is almost that of a modern fairy tale. A girl facing some misfortune meets a guy who encourages her to overcome her obstacles and find her true self, all while facing some crazy love triangle and/or other wacky life circumstances...

...The Anthem of the Heart has some of the most expressive character animation I've seen on film. The characters experience the full range of emotions, and between the voice acting and character animation, the viewer experiences a connection with the characters that is truly special. It's difficult to describe without actually showing it, but it must be emphasized how the characters bring their emotions to life in this movie.

Finally, another strong aspect of this movie was the sound design. The voice acting was incredible; as mentioned above it breathed life into the characters. What was unexpected though was the quality of the music. The musical numbers were some of the best I've seen in anime...' -Xplayer

This anime deserves a Dub!

This is a good romance story in a medieval setting, it has good pacing and although the adventures are mostly episodic the character relationships and development are always moving forward. The characters are likable and smart and overall, the show is a good change of pace from the traditional Japanese romance where nothing ever happens. Like most slice-of-life, most of the show can be slow, but it does have it's moments of action and danger (mostly in the second season). The characters personalities and chemistry is what ties this show together.

The show has no relation to the Snow White Tale other than the reference in the name. Only the first episode alludes to a red apple.

'The heroine, Shirayuki, is very likable. She's kindhearted, hardworking, and gentle, but she's not just a passive eye-candy like a fairy tale princess, and she can fight her own fights using her brain and skills rather than brute force. Then there's Zen, the main love interest, who doesn't treat the heroine like shit, doesn't force her to do things she doesn't want to do, and doesn't even call her names, which is extremely rare in shoujo genre. Their whole relationship is actually refreshing, based on mutual trust and respect.' -Starletka

The dub is excellent, one of the few shows where the dub may be superior to the sub.

Continuation of the story.

So the Japanese seem to use the word 'God' to simply refer to large monsters, it does not have the same meaning as in Christianity and other religions, nor does it seems to have any religious context. Perhaps is a mistranslation? Anyway, Gods on this show are simply large monsters that eat humans and God Eaters are superhumans that can extract the cory of these monsters with large hand-held weapons that seem to eat them. This show is based on a video-game after all.

Despite how ridiculous how that sounds it's a great hero story, battling against terrible odds and inspiring the new generations to fight for a cause. Perhaps one of the best things in the show is how to deals with the deaths and sacrifices made for people to survive, maintain hope while there is not a clear vision for survival and inspire the new generations to keep going despite all odds. It also deals with the question about sacrificing a few in order to survive or trying to save them all with the possibility of no one surviving.

The animation is a weird blend of CGI and hand-drawn, and I guess is a good compromise between quality and cost, it doesn't look as awful as other CGI shows.

I should mention that although the arc finishes with a satisfactory ending, the story if far for complete and this seems only the introduction to the characters, the main plot may be still to come, hopefully, we will get more seasons.

'Overall I would say this is a rather underrated anime and would definitely recommend it to others. I would also ask that you watch at least to episode 5 before rating this piece.' -DarkPhoenix97

The dub is excellent.

This is not a perfect show but it's a good mystery anime and the first I see using forensics, more specifically the study of the bones to solve the mystery. However, the use of forensics is not as deep as in a show like CSI and if you are an avid mystery fan you'll recognize the mysteries are taken from other series instead of being original. 

But the show is not only about mysteries alone; it is also a celebration of life that surrounds the mysteries with dramatic moments and the understanding of others with the bonds they left behind.

Unfortunately, I must also mention that this show is cut short just after they introduce the main villain and what seems to be the main arc of the show, but no sequel has been released so far. I still recommend watching, as this season mostly contains stories that span 1-2 episodes and are self-contained.

'I really was not expecting this anime to draw me in so much. Although dealing with bones obviously means dealing with death, I mistook that this would be a light-hearted anime somehow, but episodes 2 and 3 seriously drew me in and gave me chills. Learning about how the people lived and how they died creates a connection between the viewer and the character, even though when you meet the character they are already dead.' -Meekish

This anime deserves a Dub!

This is another cautionary tale about our rapid technological advancements, especially in warfare, without considering the consequences. I find the sci-fi elements very interesting and mixed in an innovative way with parallel worlds and time-travel. However, not everything is executed properly, so this is not a perfect show, just one that tries to do different things, but not everything works fine. If you read the reviews, you'll see that this is the type of show that people either love or hate. I would recommend it mostly for people who really like the sci-fi genre and welcomes social critique through the story, at some point, it even feels like a lecture questioning our choices for a better society and the best approach to reach it, while contrasting the interests and needs of the rich and poor.

'At first you don't understand what the hell is going on, but as the show gets into the second episode everything starts to become more clear. The entire show is based in the future, with one exception, they travel back through time with a small team of fighters to battle themselves from a different timeline. However, the large twist is the shows duality and take on society and people in general. There is quite a lot of talk about changing the future where humans end up destroying themselves through evolution/strength of weapons. Which in our present day holds a lot of weight a validity to the overall shows theme.

   The basic metaphor of the entire show is this: Humanity and it's future is never written in stone, but the potential to destroy ourselves is still quite great.' -Jockustoe

This anime deserves a Dub!

The movie is part of a are a trio of works (Genocidal Organ, Harmony & The Empire of Corpses) by the late Japanese science fiction writer Satoshi Itō, under the pseudonym Project Itoh. They are stand-alone works rather than a true trilogy (they are just joined thematically), so you don't need to watch any of them in a particular order.

Can't we all get along in Harmony? How much are we willing to change ourselves and empower society to manage and monitor our lives and future generations in order to achieve peace? These are themes previously explored in Appleseed & Ghost in the Shell, and in this movie, it takes some of those ideas and develops their society with a new solution to eradicate those problems. However, this movie doesn't match the wits of Masamune Shirow, creator of both shows mentioned above, and although it is a good, brave attempt, it falls short with the premise in my opinion, as it lacks the depth of thought and storytelling that Shirow brings to his work.

It is still a good watch if you like these types of movies, the failure of the movie, in my opinion, is that it starts from the wrong premise (I'm not sure if this is on purpose or not), but anyway, if you start with the wrong premise you are bound to get the wrong results, even so, finding out what is wrong with the premise makes this movie worth watching. The success of this movie is making you think about these questions and force you to come up with your own answer (in short, being able to see everything that is wrong with the premises postulated in this movie, and their contradictions, are part of what make this story enjoyable). The end is left so open-ended that it will depend on your point of view of life to tie things together and come up with your own answer and also due to this, I think everyone's experience/enjoyment of this movie will vary greatly, as you can read in the reviews.

'Philosophically, Harmony is the window dressing for a discussion about the nature and purpose of the human soul. It postulates that not only is the ego unnecessary, it is also a hindrance for human evolution. The strife and confusion in society—as well as that within our own hearts—is due to consciousness itself. Only in a world without “I” could there ever be true harmony.

Project Itoh delivers an astounding science fiction work that walks a fine line between utopian ideals and dystopian disillusionment, and provides ample brain candy.' -MockingEntropy

'Within this utopian world, the current society conditions people to focus on the social welfare of everyone around them, to the extent of utilizing nanotechnology to trigger internal warnings when your emotions are reaching socially inappropriate levels.

...Fluidity and progression of the story arch were smooth for the most part with a few cut and dry scenes. I felt the gravity of the situations and impacts were portrayed well and really played on the human emotions.

...superb characters and decent story and animation. The end was quite a wonderful surprise for me, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!' -CorruptBliss

The dub is ok.

This is a story about the obsession between life after death and ponders what would happen if the technology behind Frankenstein's would become mainstream, allowing humanity to create zombie/corpses to use for menial tasks (building an economy around this workforce), as well as soldiers for war. The story is not perfect, in fact, is quite a mess with some contradictions, plot holes, and unanswered questions, however, what it lacks in storytelling is certainly compensated with the creativity of the visuals that have a retro-futuristic look, as all of these events happen in an alternative world during the 1800s. Despite the morbid setting and dark themes, the visuals are something to behold, especially with all their machinations. The way they develop on the 'obsession' is perhaps the best aspect of the story.

Needless to say, this movie is not for everyone and perhaps will be better enjoyed by people who like the horror genre & dark themes. As well as those who put more emphasis on the animation than the story and don't mind the morbid visuals.

The movie is part of a are a trio of works (Genocidal Organ, Harmony & The Empire of Corpses) by the late Japanese science fiction writer Satoshi Itō, under the pseudonym Project Itoh. They are stand-alone works rather than a true trilogy (they are just joined thematically), so you don't need to watch any of them in a particular order.

The dub is ok, although is filled with American actors trying to sound British.

This is a show about food presented in an exaggerated way, using fan-service to express the flavors of each plate. But it's more than that, just ignore the infamous squid scene in the first episode, the rest of the show won't be as shamelessly vulgar as that, watch at least to episode 2 to judge the show. It gets better over time, although what you see in the first episodes will be the same for the rest of the show.

How does a show like this can exist and even be considered good & addictive? That is still a mystery to me, I think Gzerble explains it best:

'Food Wars! is everything both good and bad about Japan at the same time, and it is glorious. Shameless fan service, a silly shounen plot inside a competition anime, various mumbo jumbo about cooking which is sometimes kinda true and at times just wrong but feels right... this show is the Donald Trump of anime. It has everything you should absolutely loathe about Japanese animation, yet is just so funny and you can't be sure if the charisma is intentional or not.

This is a show that everyone who attempts to view as an adult should hate, but everyone loves. Because perhaps the greatest thing in Food Wars! is that it brings out a feeling of childish fun. The humor is juvenile, but it's fun. The plot is a thin at best, but it's fun. The drama is so artificial that it goes beyond ridiculous. But. It's. Fun.

Everything is over the top in the series. There is only one character that acts remotely normal, and he walks around naked. The fan service is blatant and hilarious. Anyone who knows cooking will laugh his ass off at the reactions (and at least some of the recipes; I'm sorry to break it to you believers, but a burger without meat will always suck compared to a burger with meat). But I cannot deny the effortless charm in the execution.

What can I say? There is a combination of earnestness and a wink to the audience that just makes Food Wars! irresistable. It is to school life shounen what Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is to mecha shounen. A genre I hate, made with charisma and over the top antics, aimed at both the people who love the genre and at people who like mocking it. This is a labor of love, and it shows.

Overall: Really, I should hate this show. I don't. It's ridiculous and awesome, and it does it with a completely natural feel to it. Food Wars! is touted as great, and it kinda is. If you don't mind some blatant fan service, aren't expecting anything cerebral, but are just looking for something fun... this hits the spot.' -Gzerble

The dub is ok.

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

Continuation of the story.

This anime deserves a Dub!

The Fifth Plate is just average at best, so I cannot recommend you keep going unless you really want to watch everything on this franchise despite its quality. You can read the reviews to decide.

This show is so bad, terrible in so many ways, yet, it falls in the category of shows that are good just because they are so terribly bad! You can't help to laugh at their terrible overly exaggerated antics, unrealistic events, yet, even if you watch the show with your finger in the remote to turn it off, you'll find yourself pressing the 'next' button.

This is the same type of show as Food Wars!, except that it makes Food Wars! look like a Disney show.

I also have to say that I'm not a fan of ecchi and these types of raw vulgar comedies, yet this show has more than that, it has heart and satiric humor that elaborates in aspects of real-life (although overly exaggerated of course), so there is social commentary among the show.

'This show is pretty messed up, and yet I marked the date of the next episode like many other less messed up animes airing this season. Despite it's obvious turn offs and all, or perhaps because of these, it catched my interest. 

While I'm not against giving a good kick in the balls to any guy who deserves it, this anime goes a bit too far...

I can't really place my finger on why I like this anime. It's perverted. It's harsh. It's unrealistic. The animation isn't really appealing. The story isn't amazing. Sometimes it feels like some BDSM thing. The characters aren't very relatable to me. Still, for some reason, I still want to see the next episode. It caught my interest. I give a 7.5 because I don't know why I want to keep watching it. There isn't anything super special about it. 

However, if you can't deal with pee and poop, you may not like this.' -PurplePeopleEater

The dub is good.

Continuation of the story.

This is a fun show that involves business practices and politics. I found it to be a refreshing change of pace for an overused classroom setting as it's mostly focused on business aspects and the characters. It is not a perfect show though and the fact that so far there is no second season, leaving the arc complete but the main story unresolved does not help.

'I think all of that should give you a good idea on my opinion of this show. It is very very good. It's definitely the most under-appreciated show of the season, and it's a shame. If people actually gave the show a chance, I think it'd be one of the most popular shows this season, and maybe it'd sell well enough to get a second season. Right now, that looks very unrealistic, but I'd love it if that did happen.' -Takafumi

This anime deserves a Dub!

This anime is more than just cute girls in a school setting, but you'll have to watch a few episodes until you get the plot twist to see what is really about.

In short, the main theme is something like: Is it better to be crazy & happy or rational while living afraid & unsatisfied? The psychological elements are done really well and the originality of this concept is what makes it stand out if even just barely above average. It's not perfect though, as it spends a lot of time in slice-of-life, which may be a detriment for people who enjoy the real genre that this anime is hiding. So at least you'll need to be tolerable of slice-of-life and a slow build plot. And on the other side, if you are a slice-of-life lover then you'll like the first part, but may hate the plot twist it has.

Due to the contrasting genres it portrays through the story, this is a hit or miss kind of show. For me at least, the psychological elements are what kept me going, and what I found most interesting, especially the focus on codependence. The slice-of-life & comedy were average & cliche, and the action was good but there is very little of it, and is usually short.

You'll have to try at least the first 2 episodes to have an idea where the story is going, but really up to Episode 6 to get a better picture of the psychological issues they have and their codependency.

'...this show is NOT what it looks like at first.

It’s completely deceitful about its true nature, in fact. Everything from the show’s character design, to its marketing, to the timeslot, to its opening theme is part of the deception… 

...School-Live! outright lies to its audience, to draw them in and deliver the horrible, devastating, fuck-mothering bombshell of a plot twist in the final minute-plus of its first episode.

There are hundreds of things that I think make School-Live! a work of twisted genius: the lengths the first episode goes to for its deception, the skillful use of subtle horror and unsettling ambiance rather than cheap jump scares, the manipulations of the audience’s emotions, the willingness to make the viewer question what they’re seeing, the fact that despite all the horrible things happening to the cast, that it’s still somewhat idealistic. Maybe that last one is the most remarkable… this is a sad, tragic, frequently horrifying gut-wrencher of an anime, but it’s not hopeless...' -FringeBenefits

The dub is good.

This is an underrated three-part anime OVA that serves as a crossover between Cyborg 009 from Shotaro Ishinomori and Devilman from Go Nagai, who worked as an assistant to Shotaro Ishinomori, drawing backgrounds for the Cyborg 009 manga.

This show is especially good with animation & character designs. Regarding the story, it is quite general, basically an extra mission that involves all characters from both series above, causing them to meet and get into a confrontation. Given the episodic nature of both series, this event could have happened at any time in between both series, although the beginning of the Crossover OVA makes allusions to specific episodes:

• In the case of Devilman, it alludes to one of the first events in the 2nd OVA Devilman: The Demon Bird (*see below), but this event it's actually a closer adaptation to the manga, than the 2nd OVA, who has an alternative version of the event.
• And in the case of Cyborg 009, I'm just not that familiar with the series to know which episode it alludes, but given the character Apollo, it is safe to assume the reference is for the 2001 iteration of the show Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier.
• The Crossover OVA story is standalone, so it's not really necessary that you watch it in chronological order, nor that you know the events that happen before. As long as you know who is who and what they are trying to accomplish in their own worlds, then you will be able to enjoy this OVA.

'...this was a good combo of characters with a good storyline. The animation was top notch and character development within the story was great as well. Not going to list any spoilers, but this is a good anime to watch if your looking for a good combo anime. I look forward for another one, since they left it open for another one.' -JadedDragos

The crossover OVA dub is quite good.

If you are not familiar with Cyborg 009 & Devilman, then I strongly recommend you watch the following prior to this OVA in order to enjoy it better (as the crossover expect you to know the characters and their backstories):

For Cyborg 009:

Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier, although there are multiple iterations of this show, the 2001 version is likely the one tied to this Crossover OVA (due to the appearance of the character Apollo) and the best adaptation so far. You only need to watch episodes 1-4, which are great by the way and enough to serve as an introduction to all characters, their powers, and their world. They maintain the style of the 1960s, with excellent editing and the use of orchestral background music, reminiscent of the 1960s shows. Unfortunately, after episode 4, the show just goes into 'Monster of the Week' format and the quality drops considerably for both animation and storytelling. The dub is ok.

I should mention that the 2016 Cyborg 009: Call of Justice version is a sequel to the 2001 version, so it won't serve as a good introduction to the Cyborg 009 world, nor it's a good show in my opinion.

For Devilman:

This OVA may be making allusions to the original Devilman show of 1972, but unless you are into old kids shows for nostalgia, then I rather recommend you skip this version. All other Devilman adaptations are not meant for kids, and they are an excellent show if you don't mind dark stories with lots of gore.

You can either watch:

1. OVA-Movies: Devilman: The Birth + Devilman: The Demon Bird*. This is part of a trilogy, the events of the Crossover allude to one of the first events in the second OVA, and they are actually a closer adaptation of the manga, than the 2nd OVA, which has an alternative version of the event to help give continuity to the story. These movies were made years apart, so they are not exact sequels. They have the look of the 80s and are quite good (i especially like the Demon's character designs) so I do recommend you watch all 3 Movies. Beware that these Movie-OVAs are also quite dark, violent & gory. The dub is ok.

2. Devilman: Crybaby, this is a modern adaptation of the show with an original animation style. It is also quite violent, depraved and gory. The dub is awesome. The story is basically the same as in the OVA-Movies, but the events happen quickly, in just a few episodes. In fact, the events of the crossover happen after episode 4-5 (and this is the content of the 1st & 2nd previous Movie-OVAs), but you don't need to stop to watch the crossover, as its standalone. The dub is excellent!

Excellent animation short that goes through a lot of different art styles, accompanied by piano music, and manages to tell a little bit of a story; all within one minute of existence!

Excellent short about the dangers of living on the phone!