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Ouran High School Host Club has been a breath of fresh air that has been much needed for myself. At first glance this is some cheesy romance which only has its worth in half-assed jokes and the ever present fanservice which is rampant in the industry. However, Ouran has been a story of depth and turns at every corner that has kept me excited as well as yearning for more, and yet a cheesy romance.

The story evolves around Haruhi, a girl who is forced to work for a Host Club, and the six other members of said Host Club. She is a commoner who made ... her way into the Ouran School, a private elite institution. As a member of the Host Club, she conceals her identity as a women and acts like a man to pay of her debt for breaking a vase the club was going to auction off.

That is the premise of the story and it is an interesting tale. Each character is fully developed and interesting while they are also reminiscent of the common stereotypes they are. As the story goes on we see they are not the stereotypical characters we at first saw and that they are much more than that. They have faults and they have something to call their own.

The character I have an issue with, the only big issue I have with the series, is Mitsukuni. While I loved the ‘twincest’ going on with Hikaru and Kaoru, I just could not bring myself to enjoy Mitsukuni. I thought it a bit outrageous how feared Mitsukuni had become and how he nonchalantly he threw off his brother. Frankly, I think he is a little shit and my least favorite character of the entire series. Granted, this is anime and realism must take a back seat when criticising it, unless the show makes an actual attempt to be real.

The art has been a mix of what we are use to and of something more childish. The opening, though I had mixed feelings at first, I have come to love. It is something different, something other than what we all are use to. The ending, however, did not look as appealing as the opening was. Likely because of the style used to draw the characters, but that is just my personal opinion. The music for each was amazing and worth sitting through twenty-six times. The soundtracks for the piece fit very well and did not drag down the story. Sound and art were well done.

The show has its faults and is not perfect. I have yet to come across an anime that is perfect and Ouran has been one of the many anime I have watched to get close to what I would expect of a perfect anime. It is enjoyable and fun to watch. Ouran, though I was not its target audience, was greatly relatable and enjoyable.

Story: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

Rounded Total: 9/10

I just finished watching Sekaiichi Hatsukoi for the second time. I was worried my review would have been biased after the first time because I had fallen in love with the series. After watching it a second time, I can say with the utmost certainty that this series is fantastic.

Do not let the fact that this is boy love scare you away. Whether you are straight or not, you can find yourself being taken away by this love story. I did.

The story is fantastic, much better than the story of the parent series Junjou Romantica. It kept moving at a steady pace and only in ... a few situations did I feel that it was taking steps back. But if you look at it from another perspective, it can be accounted to Onodera’s apprehensions of loving Takano again. In which case, it can be seen as great characterization of Onodera. The final episode is told from Takano’s perspective and it is a great conclusion. It tells us more about Takano as well as giving us more of their past. I loved the manga backdrop to it all. It gives an insight to the process manga authors and editors go through. I don’t know what else to note of the story besides that it is well thought out and entertaining.

The artwork was beautiful and only at a few points did I find myself put off by it. This is a romantic comedy so you should expect some chibi and playful drawings. Scenes that were dramatic were dramatic, while scenes that were fun were fun. The openings and closings were fun to watch and entertaining. Great and pleasing art nonetheless.

I loved the music. The opening and closing songs were amazing and I still attempt to sing along to them. But I don’t know Japanese and I cannot keep up with how fast they sing. They are playful and set the mood for a romantic comedy. The rest of the music was good, it fit well and some of it is still chiming in my head.

As for the characters, Onodera is one of my all time favorite characters. In fact, he is number one on my list, even ranking higher than Lelouch from Code Geass. It is hard not to be impress and disgusted with Onodera. I found myself cringing at the awkwardness Onodera had in his teenage years, reminding me of myself somewhat. I can respect his diligence as a hard worker, even though he hates the idea of editing shoujo manga. His history is decent, while his emotions are all genuine. His struggle with love was noteworthy and if there is anything I have learned from this series, it is that love is lawless, just as it is bitter-sweet. Takano’s character is fun as well. I find his history understandable and representing his character. Even though his emotional changes are slight, when you do see them you will notice them.

Beyond those two, there are two other couples. After seeing it a second time, I found the whole love triangle between Yuu, Hatori, and Chiaki boring. It seemed that Chiaki was just a child being cared for by Hatori, not that something like that is impossible to believe. It just didn’t satisfy me compared to Onodera and Takano.

The other two are Kisa and Kou where the couple is formed based on pure looks. It is fair to say that most relationships occur based on physical attraction, but that can lead to issues as we see Kisa has those issues. I enjoyed these two and it likely because it wasn’t overdone as the love triangle was.

These two couples were side couples and while development is necessary, they are nothing more than an additional side story. Like a short story, it needs to be concise and to the point. Hatori and Chiaki I believed had this verbosity that was unneeded and likely why I became bored with them.

Overall, I loved the series. If I watch it for a third time, and I likely will, I will probably skip the episodes only pertaining to the side couples. It is the main couple that makes this series great for me and worth a watch to anybody.

Story: 10/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10

Rounded Total: 9/10

True love happens in any situation, regardless of any factors going against it. You cannot fake true love, or a true love story. Seven days is a story of true love.

Yuzuru is a third year student in high school who has a pretty face that the ladies chase. Until they find out about his true personality and leave him. Many think it is a shame he was blessed with such a pretty face and such a bad attitude. His bad attitude is that he is impolite and laid back, not the knight in shining armor everybody thought he was. He hates it that people judge ... by appearances because it ends up just being a waste of time for both parties.

Seryou is a year younger than Yuzuru and a ladies man himself. He gives one week to anybody who asks him out and he treats them like nothing else matters. But at the end of that week, if he did not fall in love with that person, he would break up with them. In his personal life, Seryou has a complicated relationship with a woman who shares the first name Shino with Yuzuru. He loves her, but she will always love his brother more.

Yuzuru hears about Seryou and asks him for a week of his time. Seryou decides to go along and the two are in for the strangest week of their life. Spouts of jealousy, anger, and compassion. And of course, falling in true love.

Seldom do I give out perfect scores and those who do receive a perfect score from me, are worthy of it. Seven Days is a story that will grab at your heart and take you for a ride. The situation under which this all occurs is original, but not entirely realistic. Of course we are all searching for love, but I do not think we would do it like this weekly basis. Unless we are speaking of this true love which can happen in such a short amount of time. It progressed at a well enough rate and kept me turning to the next page.

I liked the art. I don’t know what I can say about it since I am not the visual artistic type, but it was well down and pleased my eyes. The scenes were grabbing and the emotions on their faces were well done.

Seryou and Yuzuru felt like actual people with emotions. They had things they hated and things they liked. It can be contested to a point that they are from the cookie cutter, but from there they had things that were unique to themselves. Archery was a talent they shared and their personalities were mimicked by how they did in archery. If a lot is on your mind you are going to do worse at it, as we see. If you are at peace, then you will do better. I had a connection to each of them and they were like genuine people.

I enjoyed Seven Days a lot. If you can’t tell already, I was excited reading this. I was up until four in the morning reading it. It kept itself on track and everything did something to move me forward.

Story: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

Rounded Total: 10/10

Kyoto Animation outdid themselves yet again in this stunning thirty second commercial. The sound and artwork was well played. If I had seen this before the show aired, I would have definitely decided to watched it then. However, being a commercial and only thirty seconds, I had to take away from it somewhere. I hate being the mean guy, but overall I give it a nine out of ten. There was no real story to follow and little characterization besides their movements and interactions with each other. A nine out of ten is what it deserves.

Story: 7/10
Animation: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Characters: 7/10
Enjoyment: 10/10

Rounded Total: 9/10

Competition is a part of sports and friendship that will never disappear. We want to impress the crowds of people that attend official sporting events and then we want show off to our own special circles. But has our society taken the need of competition and a display of superiority to levels not needed? Or is it something that is a part of our own natural behavior? Whether or not it is natural to us, Free! is the story of when this competition has torn friends apart.

I shall forewarn you, this is a review with spoilers. The story centers around Haruka Nanase who is a ... talented swimmer and has a genuine love for water. So much that in public he finds it necessary to strip down to the swimming trunks he always wears and bathe in fish tanks. As we see him throughout most of the series, he looks apathetic and indifferent, but he is always said to be smiling on the inside. Since middle school he has never swam competitively, only ever swimming freestyle.

He quit swimming because of his friend and rival Rin Matsuoka. After returning from foreign lands he challenges Haruka to a race and loses. He sees that after a year so he has had little progress and says that he will quit swimming because of disappointment in himself. However, Haruka blames himself for making Rin quit swimming and vows never to swim competitively again.

The story takes off from there as the once former team reunites and challenges Rin and the school he has joined. By the end we see that all Haruka wants to do is to swim with his friends, nothing else matters. Rin finds that to push himself further he needs the companionship of his friends. Without them, he hits a wall with nobody to push him forward. I think it is wonderful that this sports oriented story has capitalized on the dangers of competition. Making a truly heart grabbing story.

However this point is lost to most people because they focus too much on the fantastic muscles each character has. I think it is embarrassing that the male anime viewers are complaining about this. Honestly, have we all not seen how ridiculous the male oriented fanservice gets? Granted, I doubt a high school swimmer would have a body like this, but it is somewhat obtainable through hard work. Not the size of a breast which is determined through genetics. I think it is understandable that there can be female oriented fanservice and I am not going to complain about it. It is just a taste of our own medicine.

Kyoto Animation outdid themselves with the animation here. I loved the intro and all the special effects they added in with water. The ending, however, left me with some mixed feelings. I liked it, then it would throw me for a loop. The animation was well down and nothing more can be said about it.

The sound had me intrigued as well. The opening song was great, I found myself watching it every time instead of skipping it like I do for most anime. The ending was just as unique, again, it threw me for a loop. I must also congratulate Kyoto for using dubstep. I did not see that coming and while I feel it is out of place, it works. I found the voices to work as well. They fit, so I can’t complain.

This is a slice of life anime and it is understandable that a moving plot is not always present. However they presented a conflict well and wrapped up that conflict with little distracting from it. Everything had a purpose and it served well.

The characters I found to be forgettable. I anticipated that I would have loved Rei’s character, but found him annoying. I could sympathize with him later on, but he is still not that great. Nagisa, as well, I found a bit annoying. In my opinion, the best designed character in this series is Rin. He has greatest show of emotion by anyone and is completely understandable. I can understand why people like Haruka and that I do treasure the emotion I see change in him during the last few episodes. In fact, in the last two episodes I am sure he showed more emotion than the rest of the entire series. But do we have to make a person dead straight jaded to show this kind of significant change? Makoto brought this kind of realistic emotion change to the table, but often I felt it was just a copy of what was going on before. Smiling, closing his eyes, and tilting his head slightly to the left. I enjoyed Makoto’s gentle nature at the beginning, but it got to a point where I wanted something more and his trouble with the ocean brought that until we fell into the pattern once again. I can’t say these are something other than cookies from the cookie cutter.

I also think it is necessary to mention the actions and familiarity these characters act in. I am not going to criticize it for being seen as just more fanservice, but actually going to uphold what they have done. I don’t know how it works in Japan, but I am a senior in an American high school and some of the interaction I have seen in Free! is similar to how people in my school act. Hugging and jumping on people happen all the time in my gym class, people are just being friends and it doesn’t have to be anything more than that.

Free! has been a ride that I decided to stick to for twelve episodes. Animation was great and one of the reasons I felt myself returning to it. The plot and characters, what really counts, has made it less than acceptable for me. This show is worth your time if you can stick to it and see past the flaws I have mentioned. I will admit that I was almost moved to tears during the last episode, a true and noteworthy statement about any show I will watch. If you enjoy a nice and relaxing slice of life show, I am sure Free! is for you.

Story: 7/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound: 8/10
Characters: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10

Rounded Total: 7/10