Rbastid

An OVA whose use, or rather lack there of, makes you wonder what was going on in this show’s production to create such a huge missed opportunity. Story - 3/10 This episode was supposed to appear between episodes four and five, and once the series ends you can see why it was left out.  In this special Violet is hired to write a letter that is actually meant to be the lyrics for an Opera song, performed by a woman who had also lost the one she loved in the war. Violet is unsure of how to write a song, but after reading the letters that never made it to those who died, she starts to see how... See full review

Violet Evergarden, a story about a young girl who controls the mail, and thus controls information. Story - 4/10 The story for Violet Evergarden was big in spirit, but tiny in execution. We follow a young girl all around the land, from her time fighting in the Great War to her current role as a typist and interpreter of feelings. Despite her extensive travels everything still feels small, as most of the time she shows up to a person’s house and then just spends the next fifteen minutes talking while sitting at a table. The real reason for Violet’s work is her desire to find out what... See full review

Mmmmm taste like mediocrity.  Story - 3/10 While they try to connect our stories with themes, and a pointless pre and post roll video, I think each of these works better if just viewed as their own piece of art work. In the first of our stories, the main character and narrator Xiao Ming, reminisces about a local noodle shop that his grandmother would take him to. Over the years the owners of the store changed multiple times, along with the focus of the shop, but upon it’s return it didn’t have the same allure, since the noodles might have been the same, but what he really liked about his... See full review

More like Granblue (Final) Fantasy……. Story - 4/10 A young girl falls to the surface of the planet, in an attempt to escape the evil rulers who live in the skies, and is found by a country boy who yearns for a life of adventure and flight. Yeah it’s pretty much the plot to every RPG you’ve ever played, and to make things even more alike the characters fly on Airships and are able to summon monsters such as Bahamut and Hydra, much like in the aforementioned last dream series. Though many of similarities should be no surprise, as the original game’s producers used a few... See full review

Hey, if I didn’t know any better I’d think these guys were trying to educate me! Story - 5/10 Cells at Work takes your typical slice of life show and reinvents it as a fairly interesting series. You still get all your little romances, jokes and action sequences as any number of school or comedy shows, but it’ll be wrapped in an story that feels completely new. Almost every episode has the same exact format. We’ll first follow a this one specific Red Blood Cell who is new to the job, and thus continually gets lost or put in comical situations. Somewhere in her travels... See full review

The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing people Gurren Lagann was a good show. Story - 2/10 At first the apparent concept of the series seems like it could be one that could produce not only an entertaining show, but also a thought provoking one. Groups of people living underground, all told that there is no world above them, until one day a few of them find signs of other civilizations and decide it’s time to break free. When they finally do arrive at the surface they encounter a new race who’s goal is to exterminate humans, but when one of their powerful weapons falls into... See full review

I can’t help but wonder, if this is just the beginning does it get better? Or is it just showing us how bad the rest of the series is going to be? Story - 2/10 In a fictional country, that still resides on the globe we know, there has been an outbreak of gruesome killings, all which come accompanied by a calling card which resembles the letters B-lll, thus the new serial killer is dubbed “Killer B.”  Hoping to unravel the mystery thats now ravaging their city, the Royal Investigation Services (R.I.S.) bring in detective Keith Flick, who became something of a legend because... See full review

Choosing a series on a whim worked out nicely for once, unlike Risky Safety, Saiyuki, Gundam Seed, Nadia, Sakura Wars, Golgo 13, Gate…..damn I’m bad at picking shows. Story - 8/10 The universe as we know it has changed. The world is now inhabited by sorcerers, human-esc creatures that have the ability to emit a black smoke that affects the world around them in different ways, such as the ability to heal, to alter time, or to change their surroundings into different things; such as lizards, mushrooms or a giant roach named Johnson. The humans we know still exist, but now live in another... See full review

If these characters were players in a fighting game, I’d root for them to all lose within the first round. Story - 3/10 Even though I did enjoy season one of this series, I think this time around they started off with a format that should have been the direction the show really went in. Yaguchi feels out of place at his local arcade, as he’s now being mocked and harassed by the members of the Mizonokuchi team that Hidaka trained with, so he heads off to Shibuya to find an arcade he can now call home. While there he beats the seemingly impossible boss in Kaiser Knuckle, and is immediately... See full review

A video game, wrapped in an anime, wrapped in a goofy CGI exterior, that works really well. Story - 7/10 Haruo Yaguchi is a grade schooler who loves to play video games, and while he’s open to everything from RPGs to old school claw machines, his forte is fighting games, more specifically the Street Fighter II series. He’s often the best gamer in any arcade, using the Guile character to take out whoever may be sitting across from him. His feeling of invincibility is completely crushed when he’s beaten by someone using Zangief, a character whose moves are so hard to accomplish he’s... See full review

The only rational for these episodes being an OVA is that the show was canceled, and then uncanceled in a matter of weeks. Story - 4/10 Our first season ended with an ultimatum, where Hidaka challenged Yaguchi to a rematch, and if she beat him they’d get to date, but if she lost she’d drop the subject. Somehow this became a strange OVA trio, where if the viewer didn’t realize these existed they’d go into a second season completely blind. In the three episodes we didn’t get much of a story, once again Oono is scolded by her tutor and banned from going out or playing... See full review

Considering the facade of Sword Art Online really didn’t match the show very much, it’s no surprise they made a spin off that seems to have even less to do with it. Story - 2/10 Karen Kohiruimaki is a young girl just entering college who has always been extremely self conscious of her height. This leads her to escape to the world of video games, where she makes sure she’s a cute and tiny character to counteract her real life appearance. In the game she becomes a ruthless killer, while still just being a friendly young woman back in reality. The story basically takes the same exact... See full review

If this is the new world, well then I’m completely happy with the one we’ve got. Spoilers Ahead! Note: This review ran long, very very long, so parts of it may be located under the review in the Comments section. Story - 7/10 There’s something odd about this series, at times it seemed as if the creators had no idea where they were going. Each section could be great on it’s own, but it often felt like a few episodes into a story line they had given up on their original direction and decided to just make a completely different series. There are spoilers ahead, as the... See full review

Who’da thunk a parasitic alien with a lust for murder would be so friggen adorable? Story - 7/10 I was pleasantly surprised with this series when I started to watch it. So much about the promotional aspect, such as DVD case and images, screams gory horror series, which I tend to not be a fan of, but I purchased the set anyway. Upon starting the show you quickly come to realize how misleading all those visuals are, instead getting a show that’s so much more, and probably so much better, than you could have thought. While there is still a decent amount of blood and guts towards the second... See full review

A recap of the first half of Sword Art Online II, they tried to hit as many of the important parts of the season as they could, but managed to miss everything besides Sinon’s initial trauma. Even used as just an episode to refresh your memory, or point out some of the tidbits you might have missed when watching the series, it would be useless as it not only didn’t recap things very well, but also had no connection to the next arc. Story - 5/10 Animation - 8/10 Sound - 7/10 Characters - 4/10 Overall - 4/10

Oh, so we’re going to be Law & Order: RPG now are we? Story - 6/10 After his successes in S.A.O. and A.L.O. Kirito is hired to look into a rumor that’s been going around the internet. Apparently a player in the Shooter-MMO Gun Gale Online has shown he has the ability to kill someone in the real world by shooting them within the game. This seems far fetched as the new generation of nerve gear was made so that it can’t affect the user, but none the less the authorities are determined to find out why players have been dying while playing G.G.O. Once again Kirito is able to port his... See full review

Those who have played MMORPGs know about “Power Leveling” the act of getting someone who is a higher level to speed you through the grind as fast as possible, thus getting you up in to the higher tiers without the hassle and time normally spent doing mundane things, but usually with major deficits to your ability and knowledge of the game. Sword Art Online took that concept and brought it to the anime world, where they sped through so many of the important parts you almost feel like the series was pointless. Story - 5/10 Sword Art Online starts off with a bang, where players of new full... See full review

A good recap for those who have seen the series, but not something you’ll want to watch first. Story - 5/10 Being just a condensed version of the series it follows the same story, just in a more simplistic way. They get to each major point, which really takes the story out of the whole equation, instead almost become a bad “Catastrophe” type movie.  You still get the overall plot to the show, but you miss out on so much, such as how Mari’s motherly protection of the children comes from her own time as a mother. Animation - 9/10 One area the movie wasn’t... See full review

With a pretty entertaining first season, I didn’t mind coming right back to Ushio & Tora, but did hope they would fill in the many holes of the previous season. Story - 7/10 Ushio’s life has seeming gone back to normal, until in the drop of a hat everyone he knows instantly forgets him. No matter how hard he tries to get through to those close to him, such as Asako and Kirio, it’s no use. Even worse than that, all the monks from his father’s sect have suddenly been turned to stone, so now he and Tora are almost completely on their own. At this same time everyone, both... See full review

Often when reading the greatest books of all time I think “Hey this story could really use a self righteous vegetarian scold as a main character!” Story - 3/10 Our story follows a young inventor named Jean, who while trying to compete with his home made plane at the Paris World Exposition falls head over heels for a young girl he sees in town. After striking out the first time he tries to talk to her, he gets a second chance later in the day, as he uses his craft to save her from a group of criminals who are after a special jewel she wears around her neck. From the get go it seems like... See full review

More often than not, and by a large margin, series remakes end up being truly awful and no where as good as the original, but with an expanded story and likable characters, Ushio and Tora was a surprise, in that it far surpassed the series from over twenty years earlier. Story - 7/10 Ushio always thought his father’s tales of great monsters roaming the land were just the ramblings of an old man, but one day while cleaning the basement he accidentally lets loose one of the worst beast to ever exist. In doing so he also took possession of a spear which is able to call forth a great power to... See full review

Maybe I can hire the Clamp School Detectives to solve the mystery of how the usually amazing CLAMP team put out this series. Story - 3/10 The CLAMP School is an elite institution that covers a student’s entire educational life. On their campus they also have everything you could want, acting almost like a small city where their students and faculty could theoretically stay for the entire twenty years of their schooling. Like many schools, each school level has their own student council, and the elementary division is run by three young boys who also moonlight as the Clamp School Detectives, a group... See full review

As I’ve found to be the case a few times now, these DVD extras prove to be better than the series itself. Story - 3/10 Your typical one minute DVD extras, these mostly focused on funny little clips that showed different “Detective skills” and how the children would implement them, but also had a few clips that related to episodes in the series. Animation - 4/10 They used a Chibi look often seen in these extras, but I did find their bold outline style very appealing and nicely animated.  Sound - 6/10 It was interesting watching this with the original Japanese voices, because we... See full review

Skip the theater and head to the main event theme park instead. Story - 3/10 These mini-episodes are supposed to offer a look behind the scenes of the Amagi Brilliant Park work place, and they connect to stories from the series itself. One episode follows the mascots as they make a commercial similar to the one made with all the females of the show, another has Kanie searching for the “AV” videos one of his potential hires starred in, and one has the Elementario girls trying to have a nice dinner after their ordeal, but then end up fighting instead. Even though these are suppose to add... See full review

Suddenly that whole MPKing thing seems like a good idea. Story - 6/10 The show picks up a little while after the last season ended, with our characters all leveled up and ready for their next task. Thankfully those tasks are exactly what we should expect from an MMORPG series, large scale battles, but still with the analytical twist Shiroe brings to everything. The first half pretty much consisted of two fights composed of different parties, and for different reasons. One of those fights is part of Shiroe’s overall plan to bring some balance to the world, and has him joining with twenty three... See full review

Had a bad week? Need to just relax and enjoy a nice show? Well put on Flying Witch and hopefully you’ll start to feel a bit better about everything. Story - 8/10 The show is such a simple concept, Makoto is an apprentice witch who goes to live with her cousin’s family in the country. While there she works on some of her witch training, while also teaching her young cousin Chinatsu about becoming one too. There really isn’t much going on in the series, besides day to day events that somehow intertwine with Makoto’s training, but it still ends up being such a nice and enjoyable... See full review

A DVD announcement made in the style of Flying Witch Petit. Story - 6/10 Makoto tries to announce the release of the BluRay and DVD of the series, along with all the extras included, but Chito is too busy sleeping instead of helping her out.  Animation - 6/10 Sound - 6/10 Characters - 5/10 Overall - 5/10

If you thought the show was cute, well wait till you see this! Story - 6/10 These little episodes show our three main female characters, along with Chito, in little conversations around the house. They all are just goofy little extras that touch on such things as Makoto making tea, getting lost around the house and trying to figure out what Chinatsu and Akane are dreaming about. Nothing ground breaking here, just more enjoyable scenes for us viewers. Animation - 6/10 This extra is given the cute chibi look that now populates millions of keychains and stickers, and while there is the more... See full review

Just when I think I got my MMORPG addiction under control! Story - 7/10 From the looks of things it would be easy to think Log Horizon was just another “RPG come to life” anime, where every episode is just more of the same, fight after fight with no real point, but the show ends up much more than that, which at times does feel like a downside. Soon after the “Apocalypse” a term given to the phenomenon that caused all humans with an Elder Tales account to suddenly be transferred into the game world, things start to resemble a scene you would expect after any such earth shattering... See full review

This place seems kind of tame compared to New Jersey theme parks. Story - 7/10 Amagi Brilliant Park found a way to take the usual slice of life/school series and freshen it up with a new setting and different characters. Many of the elements you know from those series, such as the female obsessed friend, the comically violent bully, and the girl with a secret crush, are all still present and accounted for, but this show added their own little spin. The lead, Kanie, is the high school boy you’d expect to be in an anime series. Smart, good looking, and popular, he probably could have easily made it... See full review