mahius

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 is the second and final season of the highly-acclaimed and much loved mecha, sci-fi action anime, with deep themes of politics and my favourite: psychological. Though less emphasis on that last one, it’s not that crazy. It’s up there will the likes of FMA: Brotherhood as one of the most loved anime of all time. While I did watch season one, I was very disappointed at the way it ended. I recommend watching it before reading any further due to plot spoilers for that season. The entire 1st season ended on a cliff-hanger, which is one of the worst things that... See full review

Valkyria Chronicles is a 26 episode action anime about war, with a pinch of romance, based upon the popular video game that was developed and published by Sega. Having played the game myself and loved both the gameplay and the story, this anime has high expectations to live up to. Both pacing and faithfulness to the canon are important here, but of course it has the freedom to depict some extra side plot. How well does it fare in comparison to the excellent original game, which had story better than many anime? Find out. As per usual, I will disclose my personal dislike for ecchi, harem and something new... See full review

Sengoku Basara is a 12 episode historic action anime that is based not only upon a video game, but said video game is based upon actual Japanese history. However, don’t expect significant authenticity out of this, this anime exaggerates and dramatizes the history, adding modern day anime eccentricity to the history depicted. I only figured this out after I noticed a familiar name among the characters and my younger brother, who was watching this with me, mentioned that the other characters and things were actually real in Japanese history (do they teach Japanese history in schools these days or... See full review

Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom, is a 26 episode action anime, with themes of crime and psychological. It’s apparently based on a visual novel, but I’m wondering how on earth they made something so action-packed into a VN and not an action game. From the get go, this anime is soaked with an enriched and interesting plot, as well as some very disturbing and messed up themes. This is definitely a ‘psychological’ anime and is not for the faint of heart. This really isn’t your run of the mill action anime, there’s a whole lot more under the hood. *OPTIONAL* A small... See full review

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is 2 seasons x 14 episodes of a high-school, slice-of-life comedy anime, with supernatural aspects, based on the novel series written by Nagaru Tanigawa (illustrated by Noizi Itou), which I’ve read. This is one of the most well-known and popular anime in Japan, many other anime have references to this. But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, this is also one of the most controversial anime, though not in the way you might think. The first season of this anime was released in 2006 and the second was released in 2009, but included the first season as it aired... See full review

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is 2 seasons x 14 episodes of a high-school, slice-of-life comedy anime, with supernatural aspects, based on the novel series written by Nagaru Tanigawa (illustrated by Noizi Itou), which I’ve read. This is one of the most well-known and popular anime in Japan, many other anime have references to this. But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, this is also one of the most controversial anime, though not in the way you might think. The first season of this anime was released in 2006 and the second was released in 2009, but included the first season as it aired... See full review

Sasameki Koto AKA Whispered Words, is a 13 episode high-school (same-gender) romance, slice-of-life drama anime, featuring a little bit of comedy and love-triangles. This seems to be a serious and realistic depiction of homosexuality, compared to most attempts and unlike other ‘yuri’ anime, this isn’t necessarily a Shoujo (aimed at girls) anime either. It’s rather sensible and realistic, some may find it boring, so it won’t appeal to everyone. But for the rest of us who are okay with it, this turns out to be a unique and neat little story. I will disclose my hate of harem... See full review

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is a 64 episode adventure action anime, a remake of a very popular anime, featuring some very interesting sci-fi-esque themes of Alchemy. I normally struggle with long anime and avoid them, but having watched the first and enjoyed it, this is an exception. This review might as well be obsolete for various reasons, nonetheless I’ll go ahead with it as usual. I’m a bit confused as to the existence of this anime of course, while there have been anime remakes, usually the remakes are made at least a decade or so after the original version. Brotherhood released only... See full review

Spice and Wolf 2 OVA is a prequel filler episode for the 2nd season of an adventure fantasy anime with themes of the supernatural and trading/economics set in a fictional medieval setting, based on the light novels written by Isuna Hasekuna. Novels which I've not read. I have included the OVA in my review of Spice and Wolf 2, since it is essentially episode 0 and I watched it all together. It has no spoilers for the season itself. Animation Please refer to the main review, nothing differs. Sound Please refer to the main... See full review

Spice and Wolf 2 is the 12 episode 2nd season of an adventure fantasy anime with themes of the supernatural and trading/economics set in a fictional medieval setting, based on the light novels written by Isuna Hasekuna. I knew I forgot something (I have the novels and forgot to read them before watching this)! I’ll also be including the OVA in this review (as episode 0). Oddly enough, there are few anime with this sort of setting and theme, I enjoyed the first season for how unique it was and how it managed to incorporate some economic and financial matters into a decent story. This season concludes... See full review

Noblesse Oblige - The Obligation of the Privileged… Eden of the East AKA Higashi no Eden is a mystery noitamina anime, about a high stakes game with 11 players, special phones and 110 billion yen across these people. Right off the bat, this is not an anime like any other, it’s very unique and reminds me of Mirai Nikki*. It takes a while to get into, it’s short and most of all, it asks thought and patience of the viewer. Regardless of that, I’d think this would appeal to folks who don’t normally watch anime and I’d be happy recommending it to anyone as a first anime... See full review

K-On! Live House is an extra episode to the cutesy slice-of-life anime K-On. I've reviewed this anime as part of the main series since I watched it alongside the main series. It's just one episode, but it's set after the first 12 episodes. Unlike the main series, there is some plot here, it's just the band's first time performing a live professional gig in 1 episode. Check out the main review here. I feel bad for being lazy and not writing a full seperate review but if you must know, I'm feeling very ill right now and I'm grateful for... See full review

K-On is a 13 episode slice-of-life comedy anime with a core theme of music, giving off a vibe of a shoujo anime. But don’t let my words fool you, this is relaxing and chilled-out type of anime and is a fair bit like Lucky Star in animation, it might seem off-putting, but the proof is in the pudding. It’s an anime about a high-school music club that forms a band and the things they get up to. I chose to watch this in my breakfast chill-out slot, having just finished Minami-ke. Please note that this review is for both the first season of K-On and the DVD extra K-On - Live House, which I watched... See full review

Maria-Holic is a 12 episode romantic comedy, ecchi pseudo-harem anime with themes of cross-dressing and same gender relationships. Off the bat, this sounds like an idea that will fall apart from inevitable anime pitfalls, a boy pretending to be a girl in an all-girl school being paired with a yuri girl who hates men so much, she can’t even touch one. Psuedo harem refers to it being neither a traditional harem nor reverse-harem, more a mix of the two. It’s all or nothing for this one. I wish I was able to do my drunk marathons, this would have been perfect for it. I’ll also detail my... See full review

Toradora Special AKA Episode 26 is an extra episode for that romantic comedy anime based upon a novel. This OVA, is literally original video animation, the novel ended where episode 26 did. One would expect something post-narrative for this, but this is just filler, which is a big disappointment. Forget the romance, this is just a little comedy and plenty of cooking. Such as shame, such wasted potential here. Animation Same as the main series. I'll link it since I've just finished the review of the main series too and I can't be arse to write it out again: ... See full review

Toradora is a 25 episode romantic, comedy (slice-of-life style) anime, based upon the light novels written by Takemiya Yuyuko. Many years ago I tried the first episode and put it aside to watch later. Now I finally get around to watching it, it felt like a recipe for disaster. Due to tsundere and a high-school setting, which have a record of lacklustre romantic plots. Reading the novels left me enraged, last I felt like that were the Zero no Tsukaima novels and unfortunately it has some things in common with this anime. The hope for this anime was if it went a different direction from the original material... See full review

Minami-ke Okaeri is the 3rd season of the Minami-ke slice-of-life comedy series, Okaeri being the Japanese word to return home. I don’t see what’s so ‘return home’ about this since it retains the disappointing animation of the second season. But at least the things that matter are still there, it’s still as funny and heart-warming as ever and it’s more of the comical shenanigans of the Minami sisters and their friends. I’ll disclose the fact that I reviewed the first season rather favourably and that I might have been a bit too harsh on the 2nd season due to that... See full review

Corpse Princess 2 AKA Shikibane Hime - Kuro, is a 12 episode ecchi, supernatural action anime about monks, monsters and undead corpse women. I had watched the first season a good while back and it wasn’t that bad, but I didn’t like it’s reliance on this sequel, it left an incomplete story. Within the first few episode of this I was very confused and annoyed by a few things, would this change as I watched more of it? That said I watched season 1 a long time ago, back when I had different tastes and tolerances. Before I even started writing these reviews. I’ll also do the usual spiel... See full review

Darker than Black Gaiden is a 4 episode OVA bridging the gap between season 1 and season 2 of this sci-fi action anime series, which was unfortunately released after season 2. It’s set before season 2 and will explain a lot of the plot, in addition to following the main characters after the events of season 1. It is much like season 1, with a similar vibe to a gritty superhero show and almost combined with a spy movie, since there’s a lot of running around various locations. I made the error of watching the second season before having watched this. Which would have made more sense had I done so... See full review

Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk is the 12 episode sequel to a fantasy action anime set in an RPG-like medieval world, of course retaining the comedy. Unlike season 1, there’s no misleading 1st episode and the plot is more fast-paced and to the point, but the intro does remain unrelated to the anime itself. Season 1 left some large loose ends which are picked up here. I recommend having watched the first season and maybe having read my review of it, before even reading this review, since there will be spoilers for things that happened back then. Months have passed since the events of the first... See full review

Darker than Black – Gemini of the Meteor (AKA Ryuusei no Gemini) is 12 episode sequel to a great sci-fi action anime. The story continues after the events of the DTB: Gaiden, following Hei's escape from The Syndicate. Thus I recommend having watched the first series and the OVAs before this. Initially it seems more Japanese than the western comic-book style of the original, but it eventually goes into details the original doesn’t, like the transformation and change into a contractor. With superpower reminiscent of the likes of X-Men, the plot retains the unique and interesting atmosphere... See full review

Nana is a 47 episode josei, drama, romance anime with themes of music. I ignore older anime, due to having too many anime to watch, but this anime was recommended to me by someone who seems to enjoy unique anime, they also warned me Nana Komatsu is annoying. And then I find out this anime is 47 episodes long! Disclaimer: I have trouble watching long anime series and I also hate love-triangles, harems and ecchi. This sure is a unique anime, it definitely feels like a shoujo (josei) anime with some adult-oriented themes. Thus, this probably not one to watch for folks who dislike those sorts of anime. The... See full review

Ef – a Tale of Melodies is the sequel to ‘a Tale of Memories,’ another 12 episode season of drama romance anime with aspects of psychological, based upon a VN game, which also had a light novel that doesn’t appear to be in English. Like its predecessor, it maintains a beautiful and unique artistic atmosphere and retains the ability to make the viewer both think and feel. Instead of merely continuing the story, this sequel starts to explain certain things and focuses on the more mysterious characters. Since I thoroughly enjoyed the original, I’ve been looking forward to this and... See full review

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou (AKA Natsume’s Book of Friends 2) is the second season of, 13 episode supernatural, drama anime which is episodic and has aspects of slice of life. The original series was very relaxing to watch and this remains the same, it’s peaceful (almost if it weren’t for youkai attacks), but the plot is shallow while retaining the fun, lovable character we’ve had before. But how long can an episodic slice-of-life last before it gets stale and proper narrative is needed? Animation As before the animation quality good for a 2008 and along with the unique style... See full review

Clannad After Story is the 24 episode sequel to the much loved serious drama serious, featuring quite a bit of comedy and ‘actual’ romance. I personally loved the original, I took my time to watch it, but I also know that some folks didn’t like how slice-of-life it was. I will say, this sequel has significantly more plot progression in an episodic format and even passage of time, something underused in anime IMO. Thus, due to my enjoyment of the original I may be biased and the fact that I must give an overall score won’t help. So take my words and scores with consideration. Even... See full review

Jigoku Shoujo (hell girl) is a 26 episode long episodic supernatural horror anime about revenge, hate and abuse. It’s certainly a unique anime and one that makes the viewer think about the likes of bullying, blackmail, abuse and just outright being horrible. It does get repetitive a bit quickly, but is also a bit freaky and seems to rely heavily on the idea of heaven and hell: i.e. religion. It was certainly entertaining for a bit and reminded me of my own errors in the past. Animation The animation quality isn’t too great, it’s only available in 480p. But then again it’s a... See full review

Kara no Kyoukai – Boukyaku Rokuon (Oblivion Recording) is the 6^th movie of 50 minutes, in this series of seinen supernatural mystery movies, featuring a bit of romance, psychological and now comedy, reimagining the Kara no Kyokai novels written by Kinoko Nasu, based in the Type-Moon universe. This events of this movie occur several months after the events of the third movie and refers to the first story in the third novel. Azaka features as the main character here, along with Shiki and departs from the adult world into a high-school. A pretentious girls-only boarding school to... See full review

Kara no Kyoukai – Mujun Rasen (AKA Paradox Spiral) is the 2 hour 5th movie in the supernatural, seinen, mystery series with aspects of psychological and romance based upon the series of Type-Moon universe novels written by Kinoko Nasu. This movie is set after all of the previous movies and starts to really connect all the plot together. It also reveals the narrative to be supremely complex, almost mind-meltingly. The character behind the scenes is revealed and there’s just so much plot here compared to the previous movies (especially movie 4). This was 2 segments worth in the book. Instead of... See full review

Kara no Kyoukai – Garan no Dou (AKA Hollow Shrine) is the 4th movie in this seinen supernatural, mystery series based on the Type-Moon universe light novels written by Kinoko Nasu. After the intense action of the first 3 movies, this one takes a slight break and focuses on the characters, particularly Shiki and her coma which has barely been mentioned in the movies thus far (but has in the books at this point). I’m not sure what the point of this review is, since viewers will know if they want to watch the Kara no Kyoukai series or not from the first few movies. Nevertheless, I soldier on in... See full review

Kara no Kyoukai – Tsuukaku Zenryuu (AKA Remaining Sense of Pain) is the third movie in this seinen supernatural mystery series. While I enjoyed the first 2 movies, I wasn’t looking forward to this one. I’ve read the original novels by Kinoko Nasu so I know what to expect. The book alone disturbed me and put me off as it made me feel uncomfortable. This chapter of the novel was the most unpleasant of the series due to the subject matter, I really don’t do well with rape. Yet it was depicted sensibly here. I happened to start reading the Kara no Kyoukai novels when I was horribly ill... See full review