hamletsmage

Welcome to season 9 of "Tennis club doing anything but tennis while taling at 90 kph". (Mph, for us United States folks) Story: Now, you may be asking yourself "How have the managed to pull off 9 seaaons or the same 4 girls doing random things?" To that I say "Ball pit of random suggestions. Pick two, smash it together, print it, sell it, profit". Because quite frankly, linear or even non linear storytelling? Out the window. This is almost pure random.  Animation: Look, if you're on season 9, i expect you know what you're in for as far as animation goes. The end... See full review

Wow, 5 seasons of spooky stories. Who would have thought Japan had this many creepy urban tales.  Story: We're taken back to the first season for this one. At least in terms of story telling. There's no big spooky monsters like in season 3. The stories mostly revolve around spirits and the unsuspecting Japanese population that fall prey to them. An overarching theme for this season might be "do unto others as you would have done to you", because quite a few of the tales revolve around circumstances of revenge or past issues cropping up.  Animation: Yamishibai has never been the epitome... See full review

I have to admit, going into this anime, I wasn't expecting much. I like moe blob characters well enough, but moe blobs mixed with sports? It didn't exactly excite me. However, after watching the entire anime, I'd say it's worth at least a casual viewing of the first episode to anyone that likes sports anime. Now, for my rambling review! Story: The story is basically, new girl transfers in and she is overpowered as hell when it comes to table tennis. However, the team as a whole are the underdogs of the region. Which is a typical sports anime set up. The story manages one play-off and training camp in its... See full review

 I'm still trying to wrap my head around what possessed me to watch this when I've seen 0 episodes of the original Glass Mask (or the 2005 remake). But the fact that this is a throwback to an anime that is at least 10 years old, and this is the best they can do? It's sad; it's really, really sad.  Story: The plot is that part of the main cast from Glass Mask are acting like students in order to bring more passion to the world. Aside from a couple nuances like how the characters interact, the plot is pretty simple to follow. You won't need to watch the original or remake series in order to get the... See full review

The first thing you need to know about the anime is the anime is entirely aware it's an ad for a phone game. It is blatant in this regard. If you don't like meta-style humor, don't press the play button. Trust me. If you're ok with self-aware characters, go ahead and read the rest of the review.  Story: The story is basically the main cast of the game trying to advertise their game. That's it, really. There are some subplots like how the characters interact, but the main purpose is to sell the game using meta humor. Whether its passing out tissue packs or referencing other anime, the cast tries... See full review

There are anime in this world that will make you tilt your head to the side so hard you get a crick in your neck for a week. Lain is probably one of the best examples of this genre. There will be times while watching Lain where you need to stop and try to wrap your mind around what just happened. And while other anime slowly build to this point, like Evangelion or Paranoia Agent, Lain goes straight into the realm of mindf*ck in early episodes. However, as an older anime, it does suffer a bit from limited tools, but I would say it holds up to its more contemporary counterparts.  Story: The plot of Lain... See full review

I pulled this anime in the Anime Lottery Fall 2016. I wish I hadn't. There are many reasons why, and I'll go into detail below. Cliffnotes version is that between the strange art direction and the blatant scene stealing from Fate/Stay Night, the anime nosedived during the first episodes and never recovered. The anime was also hampered by poor dialogue and lackluster characters. But let's get into the full review. Story: From the synopsis, you already know a couple things. There are Romance of the Three Kingdoms generals in this, and battles are fought using cards. The main character, Sonshin, goes into a... See full review

Written for Secret Santa 2016 Look, I’ve watched plenty of ecchi fighting anime where the clothes explode off a girl because someone put chi into a punch. But I don’t think anything prepared me for the middle-of-the-road meh-fest that was Ikkitousen. It doesn’t have the humor-factor that made Tenjo Tenge fun. It doesn’t have the interesting powers that Sekirei or My-Hime brings to the table. It has a rather uninteresting plotline that when looked at has more holes than swiss cheese. I’ll go into more detail below. Story: It starts off simple enough. There are... See full review

It's rare that I give anything a 10 nowadays, but Shelter deserves a 10 for for being one of the best animated music videos I've seen in a while. If I compared it to a full-length series, it might have scored lower due to it lacking things that I would expect in a series or even a full-length movie. However, as a music video, it has very little time with which to work, so I am basing my score off of this factor.  Let's start with the storyline. The story starts with Rin, the main character, in her virtual reality bedroom, creating mountains, trees, the aurora borealis, all with the touch of her... See full review

Remember when Production IG before they sent their best people to Wit studio? AP remembers. Story: The story itself is very simplistic. The dog is alone in a world where people have either died off or left. This particular question is never answered. Every day, an android descends to a certain spot and the dog tries to engage it with a ball. The ending is what makes the anime, with a sudden rush of action after an almost slice-of-life pacing. Still, pacing aside, there are a lot of unanswered questions due to the nature of a short-movie. Animation: I recognize this style... Mamoru Oshii produced this... See full review

All aboard the train to feels-ville. Story: This was more of the start of a story. The protagonist can see and communicate with reapers, and using this power tries to save his friend. There are a lot of questions brought up at the end of the anime that are not fully explained, and leave the ending open for eventual expansion. Perhaps hoping to follow in the footsteps of other anime mirai and become serialized. There are also some odd conclusions, especially about the girl, that leave this foriegner a tad confused, but I won't spoil it. Animation: This mirai reminded me of another anime by... See full review

Have you ever wondered about Japanese bathrooms? No? Why not?  Story: An architect from Rome has just been told his designs are dated, and then he's sucked through a time warp to a shared bath in Japan, or a hot springs in Japan, or a bathroom showroom in Japan... basically, if it's bath related in Japan, he popped up there. So, since I'm sure most people in Japan know what the baths are like in Japan, I can only assume this was for foreigners. Because now I know a lot more about Japanese baths than I ever learned from all those ecchi harem anime combined... I don't know if that's a good... See full review

A while back, the television studio NHK asked 15 of Japan's animators ro produce 1 minute clips to air in 3 seasons from 2006 to 2007. The animators/directors included well known Satoshi Kon (Paranoia Agent/ Perfect Blue), Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell / Patlabor), and Shoji Kawamori (Macross / Battleship Yamamoto). As well as incorporating several larger studios. The pieces are mostly comical, with some surreal and some serious.  Story: There are 15 different stories, of varying degrees of decent. However, because of the 1 minute format, the stories are fairly shallow. There are some studios... See full review

Exhibit #1 on why horror genre and short episode format can't mix if you try to keep a fluid plotline. I'm sorry, Studio Deen, but this... this was awful. Stick to making countries into cute boys, mmk? Story: A brother and sister get infected, she turns cannibal, he becomes the feast. I mean, that premise sounds really interesting. Unfortunately, it's done in such a way that it's bland, uninteresting, and mildly irritating. For one, the brother-sister dynamic is near incestuous, but not enough to warrant a tag. There's a creepy scientist lady who is given a storyline that ends up going nowhere. And for the... See full review

This is a precautionary tale on qhy humans should not create androids that look exactly like humans. It's... it's a bad idea, ok? Story: The episodes are individual stories about an advanced society where there are androids, cybernetic body replacements, and full-on cyborgs. But the problem is that none of these are working the way they should, so a specialized group of police has to take cre of things... to mixed results. The weird blend of sexual overtones, cyber punk, and science fiction made for an odd viewing.  Animation: The animation is not bad for it's time. It's a bit overly shaded, and the... See full review

Ah, the first year of high school. When people from all the middle schools joined one community and made new friends. I mean... that was high school right?  Story: So, unlike a lot of other short episode anime that revolve around high school girls (Teekyuu/Plastic Nee-san/Ai Mai Mii etc) this particular anime is not about gag comedy as much as it is about just normal day-to-day life for 3 girls entering their first year of high school. The story shows that while they are different in both height and demeanor, they can become great friends. Because of the slow pacing, the short episodes only allow... See full review

You are now entering the "almost-hentai-but-not-quite" zone of anime-planet. It's not my typical cup of tea, but when the marathon says "watch this", you watch what you must.  And while I can't say why you, reader, are here, I can hazard a guess. So, if you're here for the boobs, just go watch it. If you're here for some other reason, let me give you a glimpse at what you'll be watching.  Story: There is a phrase "plot? what plot?" that is used in the fanfiction circle that means the fiction is almost entirely smut. This OVA would fall into that category. The... See full review

What do you get when you take the children of bazillionaires and give them interests in spy stuff? apparentky, bomb threats.  Story: The story begins with the girls crashing the opening ceremony at school in increasingly bizarre ways. The girls are being threatened by escaped criminals, and they decide to take matters into their own hands. They are then given time slots to show off the skills they have acquired in order to defeat the bad guys. But the plot ends there without much follow up. The show parodies other detective shows, but could have gone on longer to develop a decent comedy show. Because... See full review

Holy Knught had potential. Itcould have been a dark, slightly brooding version of Rosario to Vampire without falling into Vampire Knight levels of moping. But no, they left the anime as a teasing preview of the manga. Let me explain... Story: Main girl witnesses the death of her parents because they are vampires, and she swears revenge. Revenge means bedding the descendent of the enemy until she's pregnant. Sound convoluted enough, yet? Oh, it gets weirder. Said object of sexy-times already has a side chick, Boobs McFriendzone who is seeing green around MC. Then, MC's bodyguard is a werewolf, her former... See full review

Normally, I wouldn't watch this. It's nowhere near my normal anime watchlist. But now that I've seen it, I must warn others. Story: Nana is Little Miss Perfect, and it's stressing her out. So, she makes a pact with her perverted friend Kaoru that she'll participate in his BDSM fantasies to relief her stress. The manga appears to delve into this a lot more than the anime, but the anime is just her in bondage gear for the first half and shibari the second half. It's just straight fetish, no story. And even the fetish play feels... Forced and awkward. Who blushes that much? Anination: I mean, she looks good... See full review

What is Dead Leaves? It's probably what happens when animators are completely burned out and start doodling. And those doodles get an anime.  Story: The main characters wake up with no memories... Or clothes... And decide to rob the local town for clothing, weapons, and a car. While being chased by the cops, they realize they have pretty bad-ass fighting skills. They still end up in a prison on the shattered moon, though. And that's where the story gets.... Weird. Normally, anime asks for some suspension of disbelief. Dead Leaves goes waaaay beyond that. There is stuff that happens in that prison that... See full review

I was not enlightened enough to understnad and enjoy this anime. So, from the viewpoint of one who simply went "the hell is going on?" throughout the entire anime, enjoy this review.  Story: I think it's supposed to be an allegory for Noah's ark, but it could be dissing the fishing markets of Japan. Or it could just be the story of a girl with a magic egg. All I know is the story didn't click with me, I felt bored for the first half, and my brain still feels a bit fuzzy.  Animation: This is some truly lovely animation. I enjoyed the contrast between the main character's white hair and... See full review

This anime should hae been named Joker: Mediocre City. The title character is far too interesting for the anime's storyline or other characters, but let me explain that a little further by breaking this down.  Story: So, the synopsis is that there is a cyborg going around killing young women, and the police are stumped. Enter Joker, who has the ability to be both male and female at will, and loves the new detective. The story then completely derails for a date with fem-Joker and the detective, then immediately goes back to the story when Joker showcases their skill as a special agent. The story is... See full review

This review was made after 5 episodes, because I don't know if I can bring myself to finish it. (Edit: I finished it.... I wish I hadn't) It's just... well, let me detail this for you. Story: The story begins with the world on the brink of war between the US, Russia, and New Purgatory, which is an underground prison somewhere in the US. Then, a quartet of kick-ass ladies show up in a space age helicopter and get into a air fight with some marines. At this point, the story swerves drastically into bland backstory, and never recovers the action of the first 3 minutes. Yes, there is action and drama... See full review

As a premise, I grew up watching old Disney black and white shorts. The format is simplistic, but can be charming in its own way. As this is Toei's oldest entry on the site, I thought I'd give it a try, and despite the low average rating, it is very enjoyable. Story: whimsical is the only way to describe the story. A young kitten brings his pencil drawings to life, and then battles an army of stick-figure mice when the real mice steal his pencil. It's not a very complex plot, but it's very imaginative.  Animation: The video I watched had obviously degraded with time. Some of the frames were fading... See full review

Once upon a time, there was a girl, let's call her Eyebrows, that grew tired of walking her bike up steep hills every morning to get to school. A tough girl by name of Frizzy rode past her on a Honda, and the fair Eyebrows was enchanted. Eyebrows followed Frizzy and met Boobs McSuzuki, Fem-Stig, and RichGirl. So began the weird fanservice that is Bakuon.  Story: I don't know whether the story was pimping out the bikes or the girls more. Now, I understand the boobs and motocycles have had a long history, but do we really need literal body washes of the bikes? The super chest of Boobs McSuzuki? The... See full review

Have you ever heard the phrase "Back the drawing board?" This anime should have listened to that phrase. It felt like I was watching an unfinished storyboard.  Story: Slice of life of a cat, or rather a catman, who is often drunk and likes to jump across tall buildings. Each episode is a different tale about his life in the big city. The story itself isn't bad, and has a bit of a noir feel to it. The problem is that it's rather... simplistic, and doesn't leave much room for character depth.  Animation: It's flash animation, which can be quite good. The problem with this animation... See full review

I'm fairly certain that the person who came up with these commercials was either drunk or high. The premise is that there are beans (including jelly beans and some nuts) that are part shiba and know random facts. They pop up just when you're sitting down to eat, and apparently ruin your appetite.  Story: There wasn't one, but I did learn that flamingos produce milk and it's red. I'll probably never forget that as long as I live. I would say it is episodic, but I won't think you can really call those episodes. I'm not sure the purpose of the anime, other than to relay bizarre tidbits on... See full review

Synopsis: Akira isn't that great in school, and he's often teased. One day, he takes an underpass and finds an advertisement for coffee. When the cute girl on the poster starts talking to him, he decides to take the poster with him. He then spends the year looking for the girl in the poster. Story: Ah, boys and their posters. Truly, a love story more beautiful than words can describe. In reality, this feels like a case study for anti-social behavior. And the ending just is. There's some surprise to the twist, but the follow up is completely unrealistic.  Animation: Tezuka is the grandfather of anime... See full review

First, a short PSA. If you find that you are tossing and turning as much as Hinako, you should invest in a mattress that is more suited to your preferences. Also, if you find that your breathing stops as much as Hinako's, you might want to see a sleep clinic about sleep apnea. This has been a helping PSA from your reviewer, hamletsmage. Onto the review Story: Ok, so you find yourself in Hinako's bedroom and she tells you that it's time to sleep. You don't find out how you got there until the flashbacks begin about 8 minutes into the anime. Even then, it's a simplistic storyline. The main storyline is that... See full review