Ymarsakar

[NO Spoiler review] For a series that closes up with a final ending in 12 episodes, the plot and character development was pretty razor sharp. This anime falls closer to a hybrid that has mystery and horror than the normal genre elements it would normally be placed under, which is high school battles. (Gargantia would be another hybrid, where you think you're watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes from episode 1, but you are not) It has everything a high school battle series would have, including a different world/timeline, weapons and powers which aren't conventional or are superior to military tech that... See full review

[No Spoiler Review, 1 episode watched. Previous season's review linked below] Looking at how they did with the first episode of the second season of the JSDF Gate anime, it seems they took the problem with the previous season into direct account. I made a note in the last review that they were avoiding dealing with this manga original source's grim/dark/grit atmosphere, because they didn't know how to show it in an appropriate context for mainstream audiences. They did well with the throat cutting in the first season's episode, but failed when it came to the siege warfare when hostages were used to... See full review

(No Spoiler Review) This is pretty classic for the genre of School Battles. Meaning, you have slice of life combined with having to battle for school pride or your hierarchy of needs as you become a student. The setting is classic and standard light novel, meaning it is well constructed from an original base, with its own world logic and justifications. Generally anime isn't the best format for dumping that much information on people to the point where it makes sense, but this introduction episode did a relatively good job of centering me on what this world is like. There's also some foreshadowing... See full review

(No Spoiler review) [All Episodes seen so far, update at end] This is the second anime season of "K". If you haven't watched the first season, it'll make a lot more sense if you watch that first. What the K franchise is about (and there's a movie Missing Kings which ties in the two seasons here) is a reconstruction of history from WWII, which led to superpowers being developed amongst certain factions of humans. So this gets to the heart of what hierarchies are about, what feudalism was about, and how an organization changes depending on the leadership and the membership. You get a... See full review

Japanese sports anime like Haikyuu first season or Ace of Diamond, is very similar to shounen shows but with a more realistic assesment of talents and abilities. Competition, getting better at your craft, are what ties it to the shounen demographic. Having rivals, defeating them, etc is also a big thing. As the title notes, this is the second season, so if you like sports or just want to learn more about them (for nostalgia purposes perhaps), consider watching the first season. This is about Volleyball, or rather team volleyball 5 v 5, so there is a lot of focus on defense, spiking, and setting up... See full review

(No Spoiler review) [Series is finished on broadcast] The first episode gives a feeling very close to when you first start up Utawarerumono the visual novel adventure game on pc: some of the tribal music, the introduction of the main as a man out of place in more ways than one, and being welcomed by a village of non humans. I haven't [played the sequel Visual Novel playstation game] this story was based on, but it looks like this is quite a time after Utawarerumono 1. I remember the slime as well, and how it was created historically. Some nice nostalgia for the old fans. The Utawarerumono anime... See full review

Spoiler free. This is one of those genre switchers. They are a hybrid of several different genres in anime that one doesn't normally see together at this strength. For example, Gargantia on a Verdant Planet, from Ep 1, looks like Knights of Sidonia, a military science fiction adventure/death drama. Then it flips, and that's where the surprise or draw is. For people that liked the first genre phase, and for School Live that would be cute girls doing cute things at school or a slice of life, this might be jarring and destruct their expectations. But for other people who find the main genre lacking or... See full review

This story reminds me of the OAV which the creator of Legend of Galactic Heroes did, but then couldn't finish. It was also about a land called Pars and a Prince that lost his inheritance. Graphically and aesthetically, it's been changed significantly from the bishounen view of the previous unfinished version. The ouji or Prince is softer looking, more effiminate or young than like the unreal otherwordly artwork of the previous version. But let's continue on to the meat of this series. Setting wise, this is alternative history, set in Persia in a time when they were fighting religious fanatics. If... See full review

It's amazing how many elements and themes they put into 12 episodes. Magical girl transformation, time travel,  gender flipping, it's like a list of various Japanese otaku culture themes from previous anime series put together into one cohesive plot arc and small group of close characters. Every few episodes, I got surprised by the theme and genre shifts they did. Which was refreshing, new, and changed the feeling of the plot. The use of colors and music for comedy, in this series also appealed to me. The overall tone fits closer to Dog Days at the end and the end of Steins;Gate for the... See full review

Very entertaining and fun for fans of Type Moon's stories. High quality, unique story line that mashes or blends various characters in. It's great.

[12 episodes viewed, update at the end] 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. For example, they had the MC kill an enemy straight off using a blade across the throat, but they chose to use... See full review

Hard to believe this is a spin off of one of the Tenchi Muyo OVA plots. The setting and characterization is way different. Because it was sent to a pay per view network, each episode has 45 minutes rather than the standard sub 30 minute episodes in most anime cours. This makes it easier for them to tell the story but the episode count is short at 13. The pacing and plot is very good, with each section or phase having its own distinct flavor. Some will be thriller acts based around drama or high tension action, others will be a period where it's a harem comedy. Some of the plot resolutions at the end... See full review

This series is closer to seinen than shounen. I need to clarify this point because some people criticize the series for being a bad shounen. Many shounens tell the story of the hero's journey, from their home village like a fantasy epic arc Wheel of Time or Naruto. Heroic Age is right after the hero is at max power and comes back to the village to settle one last problem. Heroic Age is the story of what happens to the hero, to the human race, at the end of time and at the end of the hero's journey. It is not about a person growing up and maturing, the hero is already a mature warrior. The maturation... See full review

The overall feeling for this series is space opera, but very short space opera. Everything is condensed into a tightly plotted war arc, based around the motivations/emotions of those fighting and the tactical fighting parameters of the starships themselves. For those that like tactical simulations and options in a war game, this series should be entertaining. For those looking for a longer story like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, this is a very short, compact, storyline in comparison. The themes are also more down to earth, as in related to the individual operations of a single starship, rather than... See full review

[Spoiler Free/ Shorter Review] This series is for adults, not children or teenagers, as such it should be given the "seinen" label. It's difficult to place this in any particular genre, since it distorts and inverts many of them. Shounen action with magic powers? It inverts that, the MC doesn't even have particularly powerful abilities, the most powerful abilities are in the secondary characters. How does that work for a shounen genre? It doesn't work, you see how that doesn't work especially since the end is a fight against the Last Boss? The closest I can classify this would be visual novel... See full review

Madhouse has a relatively good record with light novel adaptations, and since that applies here, it's important to take note of when gambling on this series. I've watched the episodes 1 and 2 repeatedly, and it feels very interesting. Much like Log Horizon Season 1 (not 2). The setup and the presentation is top notch though, so far. Log Horizon, visually speaking, felt much more standard fantasy fare, so there was less of a shock. Most of the shock came from the characters reflecting on their issues. In Overlord, there is a stark difference between one reality and another, and it communicates more in... See full review

Don't watch this season if you liked the first one, it is not worth it. Studio Deen just can't seem to figure out how to adapt light novels, or even write up the filler specials for them. The first season of Log Horizon did a great job introducing the virtual/real world conjunction and how that affected the characters and societies that naturally bloomed inside the world. The second season is.... not sure how to describe it. Boring? Meaningless? Character development is frozen, but people pretend things start happening? Compared to actually fighting in a raid and organizing it, watching some... See full review

This is the definitive Unlimited Blade Works, forget about the other adaptions by studios that are not Ufotable. That means Deen and the Fate initial adaptations. I enjoyed this introduction, even after re reading the visual novel. So it was a great complement and nothing was so wrong with the plot that it broke the immersion even though I was compariing it to the VN quite often (not something people should do, as it breaks immersion). Ufotable is so skilled in their adaptation, however, that this felt like the same story, told better or in a different perspective. Same story, different pov, more... See full review

Well done on the second season, Ufotable. Extremely well done, the final fight scenes made a lot more additional sense than even the visual novel could explain. Ufotable has done the unexpected, they made a season finale that was better than the visual novel the story was based on.

This is a thrilling ride. The plot is very well done, but it is very subtle and the action generally puts the character development in the background. For those that want some action to go with their dystopian post apocalypse thought experiments, this is a good opportunity.

There's a lot of content in this series. To reduce this review down to the bare essentials, I found it interesting to think and analysis all the political, subterfuge, military strategy/logistics, and philosophical concepts interwoven within the story and plot line.   All I had to do was to analyze the data the episodes gave me and extrapolate the logical conclusion and that would be the truth, because the world was made very consistent according to principles of history and human nature. This series is based upon a light novel so certain transitions and word flares were cut out to make room for the... See full review

I didn't know quite what to think of Stellvia until the ending plot arc. This story is more or less a two part tale. The first part deals with schoolgirls on a space station. That concept by itself would have gotten boring by episode 12, except for the fact that the series transitioned to part 2: which was something much more interesting and used the material from part one quite well.   So thematically, this is a slice of life show about a teenage girl who wants to go to space and learn how to be a pilot of spaceships. Plot wise and character development wise, this is about a teenage love story in... See full review

One of those pieces of evidence that with a high enough skill level, artistic worth, interesting characters, and gripping storyline can be had for little investments in time or production cost. This one shot short film focuses mostly on long distance relationships, exploration of ancient civilizations or alien races, and fighting alien invaders. Due to its hybrid nature, it's good when focusing just on the battles or interesting when focusing just on the romance. All together, it makes for a smooth view. For elevating the bar for high density entertainment, this gets half a star raising it from... See full review