Rbastid

Gate, or the story of what happens when you like manga but have no idea what you’re writing about, so you just throw every single trope into one story and hit the blend button. Story - 3/10 A mysterious portal opens up in Tokyo and out come hordes of fantasy monsters and medieval looking soldiers. Thankfully the Japanese Self Defense Force is on the scene to quickly dispatch them, including one soldier who was on his way to a local Otaku convention, but ends up becoming the face of the Japanese victory, after saving a few folks with his bare hands. Now it’s the JSDF’s turn to enter... See full review

Story - 8/10 These six, minute and half long, little specials serve almost as the obligatory Beach/Hot Springs episode every anime needs to have, but much like the series itself, it turns things on it’s head by setting up the guys as the eye candy and the girls, mainly Chiyo, as those hoping to get a glimpse of some hot bodies. What I really enjoyed about these mini-episodes was that each little hit was joke after joke. For every fifteen second clip within an episode there was an enjoyable gag, something that’s very refreshing when considering most of these extras are... See full review

Mirage of Blaze, or dammit I thought I picked up the new X DVD. Story - 5/10 The story does somewhat play out like the like the previously mentioned series, X, at the start, as it revolves around one group trying to essentially destroy the world, The Feudal Underworld, and those who need to stop them, the spirit exorcisers, including their reluctant leader, Takaya Ougi. Though after those first few episodes dealing with that subject it turns into a monster, errr spirit, of the week show. The remainder of the show touches on a few different spirits that need exorcising, all while Takaya still... See full review

From what I can remember, this was the first anime series I purchased on DVD when it was newly released, based almost solely on the cool Box and DVD sleeve. Years later it still can entertain and draw out emotions as it did the first time almost Fifteen years ago. Story - 6/10 While I do find the series to be quite engaging and interesting, and it holds a place as a favorite, I can see that really there isn’t much going on throughout the twenty four episodes. The plot of the show, a young man’s return home to fulfill a prophecy regarding the end of the world, is used as a catalyst for both the... See full review

Put out as a hype video for the show, Episode 0 of X TV plays like both a Prequel and a recap of the first half of the series, while not adding very much to the show.  The stand alone episode is seen from the perspective of Kakyo Kuzuki, a dream seer who recounts his first time meeting another human, how that interaction left him in a coma and how those events are now replaying themselves. As a dream seer Kakyo is a very sought after commodity by the rich and elite, so he’s been held captive since he was a child, used to help those in power. In an attempt to have some human interaction... See full review

Akame Ga Kill, a story that really isn’t about a girl named Akame, but it works better than Tatsumi Ga Kill, which would force the creators to make a bland, whining, little boy the promotional face of the series. Story - 5/10 The story for Akame ga Kill is really the same lazy plot we end up seeing time and time again. An evil ruler continually treats his people badly, now it’s up to a small rag tag group to take him out and restore peace to the land. Thankfully the terrible premise makes for a great excuse to create some very good personal interaction stories between all of our... See full review

As DVD extras have become worse and worse, the team tasked with taking care of them for Akame Ga Kill really put together something worth watching. Story - 7/10 These are cute little DVD add ons, where each one minute clip has a slight connection to its corresponding numbered full length episode. They touch on goofy little things like Sheele always losing her glasses, Incursio becoming an action figure sold on TV by Lubbock, and Akame and her sister trying to resolve their differences on a radio talk show. Animation - 7/10 The crude and cutesy style of animation used for these fits the tone the creators... See full review

Because there wasn’t enough wasted time and gratuitous T&A in the series itself, now we get a resort episode! No not the resort episode within the original thirteen episodes, another one, yeah it’s not a joke. Story - 1/10 After defeating the giant on level eighteen, the group heads back to the surface. On the way back Hestia kicks a rock in frustration, to Lilli’s flirting with Bell, and uncovers a secret area, which of course is a hot spring, because every anime needs a hot spring episode to give the animators an excuse to draw everyone in bikinis.  The next twenty minutes or... See full review

Why sit around and actively play an RPG online with others when you can watch one on your tv, complete with EXP grinding and annoying party members. Story - 5/10 This show basically takes the concept of MMORPG games and treats it as if it was real life. Our characters join guilds, (known as familias in this series) go out on monster hunts and level up, all with the real possibility of dying. Like many of the games, there isn’t too much reasoning behind why they do it, besides money and items, but regardless it is the main focus of the city and all it’s businesses. As for the story itself, it... See full review

In a world where every series needs to have a Mech, a Vampire, a Samurai or a Gunslinger, Speed Grapher finds a way to take an overused genre and make it original. Story - 8/10 Speed Grapher had it’s work cut out for it from the start. The school life genre has a huge following, pointless ecchi probably has even a bigger one, but photo journalism? Not a term you’d see on anyone’s list of “likes” or “wants” when it comes to video entertainment plot points. None the less, they took this unused genre and ran with it, and for the most part did a very good... See full review

Like much of what went on the series, Jing’s apparent arrest is more than meets the eye, and that holds double for the encounters he’s about to have in the infamous Seventh Heaven Prison. Story - 7/10 Jing has finally been caught, and now he and Kir are off to serve time in a prison for the worst of the worst. Of course that’s what Jing would like his captors to believe, but the truth is he’s there to meet a famous magician, Campari, who’s known for stealing dreams and selling them to those who can’t dream on their own.   Each part of this OVA revolves around a... See full review

Spoiler Alert! This show is about a character named Jing, and he’s a bandit. Story - 9/10 The show follows our titular character Jing, and surprise surprise, he’s the most feared and revered “King of Bandits”. While Jing does steal you’re normal thiefly delights, like gold and jewels, he tends to focus on items that have something a little deeper in them. Each episode, or grouping of episodes, has Jing and his companion Kir tracking down a legendary item that is often more than meets the eye. Of those items Jing is after, about eight in total, they each have a message behind... See full review

Spoilers: This is a run down of Season Two’s extra episode, so outside of breaking down the story, all other aspects can be found in the Season Two review. This single episode OVA takes place between episode Twelve and Thirteen of Season Two. Having just been knocked out of the tournament, Nishiura High’s team exits the stadium and starts to make their way home. Meanwhile the catcher from Tosie, Kazuki Kawai, starts to do some investigating. While watching the game between Nishiura and Bjioudai-Sayama, he notices his old friend Roka, the assistant coach of the Bijou team, is attempting to give... See full review

Generally these extra OVAs are tied to shows that lasted too long as it was, but with Say I Love You, I enjoyed having one more episode, especially one that didn’t just fly off into some randomness. Story - 8/10 After being kicked out of Mei’s house, as he was making her nervous while she baked cookies with her friends, Yamato goes to a park to meet up with his childhood friend Kai. There they talk about some of Yamato’s anxieties, like how as a high school student he really didn’t know himself, always changing to fit in with those around him. The two reminisce for a short period... See full review

The series tried to do a little something different than your usual coming attractions, and while it didn’t make you rush to view the next episode, it was a cute little way to break things up and give you a bit more character info. Story - 6/10 Often these little clips give a recap of what happened in the episode before it. Some consist of Mei fretting, while her cat Marshmallow runs around complaining about how she’s giving her attention to Yamato, which of course she only hears as “Meows.”   Other episodes are just little goofy things, like Marshmallow meeting... See full review

I was hoping for a case of amnesia myself after finishing the original series, thankfully this time around I won’t need to take such drastic measures. Story - 5/10 The episode revolves around the cafe where the characters all work. A rival cafe has opened up near by, so they’ve decided to run a few gimmick promotions in order to attract new customers. They go from Darts Day, where they set up dart boards around the shop for people to play, and followed with Animal Day, Cosplay Day, Glasses Day and culminated in a day they put on an over the top “Hero Show” which inadvertently... See full review

To a point I can take bad writing, terrible dialogue or subpar voice acting, what I can’t take is hacky comedy that tries to fill it’s massive flaws with just spouting profanity over and over again, which means I can’t take Saiyuki. Story - 1/10 Despite clocking in at fifty episodes, Saiyuki has a plot that can be played out in a comic strip. The series is supposed to be about four characters sent to stop the resurrection of a demon, your typical “Journey to the West” story. The group is lead by Genjyo Sanzo, a Priest who has risen to the status of Sanzo and thus been... See full review

Where as the series ends with an amazing climax, literally a boom, the franchise, as a whole, with a whimper. Story - 6/10 After regaining a few of his erased memories, Takizawa returns to Japan to meet with the wife of the late prime Minister Iinuma. Upon his arrival he’s met by the woman who quite possibly is his step-mother and held in confinement until she can can have his DNA tested. Unfortunatly for her, Takizawa has more important things to do, and he finds a way to outsmart his guards and sneak out in order to find and protect the truck carrying his Juiz unit, before Number One can once... See full review

This might have been one of the first anime films I can actually remember viewing (I didn’t really get into anime till almost college) and upon rewatching it fifteen years later, with more knowledgable eyes, I think my initially rating of it came more from what I thought I was supposed to like, instead of what I did. Story - 4/10 By now we all pretty much know the story. Chihiro and her parents take a road off the beaten path to get to their new home. In doing so they get their car stuck and go take a look around on foot. After walking past some old building and ruins they find an abandoned... See full review

Farewell Space Garbage Truck Yamma….. Oh, is that not the title? Story - 5/10 The show starts off with a very innovative and interesting concept. After a little over One Hundred Years in space, the human race has gone on to build bases on the Moon and Mars. With all that new technology floating around, along with the thousands of ships and satellites over the years, comes a problem as old as man, what happens to the waste, specifically pieces of metal that are adrift, causing catastrophic damage to anything that it may collide with. Right in the middle of the solution to that problem sits our... See full review

Often these little extra “Bonus features” are some of the most useless garbage put on a DVD, but for once I actually looked forward to them and what they added to the story. Story - 7/10 The whole concept of these audio dramas is to give a little peak behind the curtain into what goes on off screen at Half Section. These are the stories occurring simultaneously to our main plot, most of the time referencing the plot, but having no real impact on it. The first episode deals with the Lottery that Lavie and Hachimaki are playing in episode two. After so many losses Lavi decides he’s going... See full review

While the creators still don’t understand the meaning of the word “Prologue” at least they came much closer this time than they did for the first series. Story - 3/10 Much like the first “Prologue” this is more or less a single clip paired with a music video, trying to hype up the second season. This time around they did actually pick a scene that makes you want to know what direction the series is taking, as it focuses mainly on Yuuko Amamiya and a familiar looking, but unnamed, male. Animation - 4/10 See Series Review. Sound - 5/10 The Japanese voice track is somewhat... See full review

And as the sun rises over Salinas California, a young James Dean walks into frame and…..what’s that? The review in on Eden of the East, not East of Eden? Well that’s going to make this a bit awkward.  Story - 8/10 As great and entertaining as this show is, it’s interesting how simple the story turns out to be. Sure there might be confusing bits here and there, but overall there isn’t much to it that would leave you scratching your head. Spoilers below, as for some reason I decided to change how I do things and actually write a whole recap of the show. While on... See full review

A showcase for the beauty of New York City comes disguised as the sequel to one of the better anime series of the last decade. Story - 8/10 After once again erasing his memories, Takizawa (Taki) returns to New York City and a place marked on his phone as “Home.” Back in Japan the Eden of the East crew searches frantically for him, worried that his last request from Juiz, to be made King of Japan, has also put a target on his back. Six months past and finally Saki gets a clue to his whereabouts, and heads off to the Big Apple, hoping Takizawa’s message to her, about meeting “in... See full review

The Eden of the East Air Communicator movie is a recap of the series, but told in a very clever way. Story - 7/10 For the most part the story is exactly that of the show, just cut into a two hour movie. What little insights we do get are from the way the movie is presented. Although all the animation is the same, we’re mostly listening to a conversation, presumably occurring in the Eden of the East headquarters, where the team tries to piece together the events of series. One useful bit of information we get right away is that the original series is all supposed to take place over an eight day... See full review

When is a mecha anime not a mecha anime? When you give them wheels and pretend they are part motorcycle instead. Story - 2/10 Rideback comes across as a pretty interesting story, well it does if you don’t know what the story is, because then it’s just randomly thrown together slop. A young ballet dancer named Rin, trying to live up to her mother’s stardom, is injured and falls into the normal path of most young adults her age, college. While there she finds an interesting piece of technology known as a rideback, which is part motorcycle and part Gundam. Of course she just magically has... See full review

You know you don’t have much in the idea department when your ten minute show is three and a half minutes of recaps, intros, outros and previews……on every single episode. Story - 1/10 Risky and Safety are two competing spirits, Risky a apprentice shinigami and Safety an apprentice angel, who one day collide and assume the same body. Each now tries to get a particular subject to either find happiness (Safety) or die and give up their soul (Risky) in order to score points in their respective fields. It’s the old Angel and Devil on your shoulder story, except this time only one can... See full review

Time for K-On!!! Or I guess Choir-On!, C-On!? What did the K stand for anyway? Story - 7/10 The story does start out pretty much the exact way K-On! did. A student wants to start a club, but oh no they need five members, so now she must find others so that she can follow her dream. Through some dealings, and in defiance of the Vice Principal, the new Choir Club is formed, but now they have only a short amount of time to get ready for the upcoming concert. The remainder of the series has the club focusing on new opportunities to perform, first at a talent show run by the local business community and then... See full review

This series reminds me, not in style, story or characters, to The World God Only Knows. Their similarities lie in the fact that both started so horribly, only to have an massive uptick in quality during final season, and then leaving us wanting more. Story - 8/10 So as usual my reviews may be a bit spoiler heavy, but then again this series came out over eight years ago and I’m probably the only person who is just getting around to viewing it. The first big part of this story is that half of what you knew from season one, isn’t what you thought it was. Sprung upon us in the first few minutes... See full review

Culture Club sets it’s sites on Japan, not only to bring their hit music, but also to stop the other worldly spirits haunting it’s citizens. Is that not the plot? You sure? Na I know what I watched. Story - 7/10 Despite being billed as two stories surrounding Subaru Sumeragi, these OVAs almost feel as if they were meant to be completely separate works, as if Madhouse made one for Tokyo Babylon and just pulled the second out of a set of scripts laying around. In the first OVA we meet Subaru, his sister Hokuto and their friend Seishiro. Subaru is an occult investigator often hired by police... See full review