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So after watching The Last: Naruto the Movie, I just thought I'd share my thoughts and overall feeling of the movie. [Slight/Minor spoilers ahead]

The story: Set two years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, a new threat has arisen in the form of Toneri Otsutseki (descendant of Kaguya)

With the moon threatening to break apart and rain down upon the village of Konaha, Toneri needs the Byakugan to complete his Tenseigan (a legendary dōjutsu created from the thousands of Byakugan sealed by the Ōtsutsuki clan over the last one thousand years)

I was able to understand the story overall, but at times it felt all over the ... place and sometimes convoluted. Some scenes were so over the top even for the Naruto series.

Toneri as the main villain and a descendant of the Otsutseki , I never did feel that he was an imposing threat. He was a pretty generic villain and for this being "The Last" Naruto movie, you would think that a more imposing villain would be present.

Now the main plot point, that is supposed to be the main selling point for the movie. The relationship between Hinata and Naruto. I get what they were trying to do, but in the end it felt rushed and was only there for the movie's plot. It's hard to believe that Naruto fell in love with Hinata through flashbacks of memories. It's like flicking a switch and saying "Oh, I love this person now" or "I get it now, she's loved me from the very beginning, I guess it's time to settle for her"

This could've been handled better or approached with a different direction than how it was handled.

I didn't get the feels that I got when Naruto meets his dad, or how his parents protected him when he was a baby.

Overall, I felt that it was an okay movie, nothing amazing, dare I say slightly underwhelming.

"A faint clap of thunder, even if rain comes not. I will stay here, together with you"

There's something about Makoto Shinkai's work that draws me in, whether that be the simple story, with multiple layers or just that "boy has deep feelings for girl"situation. Regardless, Kotonoha no Niwa is another exceptional piece.

Kotonoha no Niwa follows the lives of Takao Akizuki and Yukari Yukino whose paths intertwine as they happen to meet each other in the Japanese Gardens, on one rainy day.

From here on, small details between one another begin to emerge, and Yukari learns from Takao that depsite everything else, he wants to be ... a shoemaker.

In due time, Takao becomes enamoured with Yukari and he hopes everyday that it rains so that he can meet with her.

I won't go into further details about the story, but the way Makoto Shinkai's films are written, they are done so with such distinct uniqueness, that it's different from the typical "boy has deep feelings for girl" situation that is prevalent in other animes.

In the end, Kotonoha no Niwa is a beautiful film, with amazing animation to boot, that only adds to the further realism of the story.

Ah, Sword Art Online. One of the most anticipated animes of 2012, it has many people claiming that SAO is "The best anime of 2012" and is it? No. Let's explore the many reasons as to why SAO failed so badly.

Story - In the year 2022, a new type of technology called the Nerve Gear is released and allows fans of VRMMORPGS to enter the game like never before. Enter our main protagonist Kazuto Kirigaya a.k.a. Kirito.

That is just the basic plot, but from here on out the antagonist of this world Kayaba Akihiko entraps the players of SAO until they can clear all ... 100 floors.

After SAO is over Kirito has to enter another VRMMORPG to save his girlfriend Asuna who has been trapped.

Characters - Let's start with Kirito, he has no depth to him, he is a plain character who makes these promises to save everyone and yet he can't keep them.
Asuna is the other protagonist in SAO and after an episode or so, herself and Kirito fall in love and eventually get married. In saying that she has no back story to her, it was not mentioned why she entered SAO in the first place. Aren't back stories important in animes so that we can relate or feel more for the characters?
Sugu/Leafa..My main complaint with the series. She enters when Kirito enters the world of ALO (ALFheim Online) and she has got to be the worst character of this year or worse. First off in the real world Sugu and Kirito are cousins, in the virtual world they aren't aware or she isn't aware that Kirito is her cousin so she starts to develop feelings for him. For the first couple of episodes in ALO, it mainly focuses on her and her bitching and whining that she loves someone that she can't get. Anyway, the whole Sugu loving Kirito thing and when she said "Do you only have love for her"? That was just a huge facepalm moment and when she finally does put together the pieces (cos she was too dumb to figure it out earlier on) she blames him, then has another bitch and cry.

There are other characters (side and major) and I didn't really touch on the other criteria, but seriously this anime gets way to much praise and I just wanted to rant on my hate for Sugu.

Enjoyment - I was hyped for this anime before it's release and was extremely disappointment. The music is probably it's only saving grace so to speak. The ending was also crap.

Now let me start of by saying THIS IS NOT AN ANIME FOR EVERYONE! *minor spoilers included*

The story of Serial Experiments Lain is an interesting complex one to say the least. It starts of by a student commiting suicide saying she does not need to exist in this world anymore. The following day the students receive an email from the dead student and at first they think it is spam mail but that turns out not to be the case. Pretty much the whole show revolves around The Wired (or their version of a more advanced Internet) and how humans use it as a form ... of communication.

The main colour pallete for Serial Experiments Lain uses a lot of blacks, purples, reds and yellows. The shadows pretty much consist of most of the colours listed above. For its time, the art style overall was great.

Serial Experiments Lain doesn't rely heavily on orchestral elements and it doesn't have to. The atmosphere already sets the mood for you. There are subtle ominous sounds every now and then.

Lain is an interesting character to say the least and as much as I want to give away spoilers I won't. Lain starts of as an anti-social girl if you will, she is a very shy and doesn't really show any emotion. If you do watch episode 3, that's when things start to really pick up. I was left like :O and you will see why. There are more characters, like Lain's so called friends....well really she only has 1 friend out of that 3 girl group, Lain's family, the Men in Black and a secret organization called 'Knights of The Eastern Calculus'.

This anime is influenced by philosophical subjects such as reality, identity and communication. Those things are key to what make Serial Experiments Lain such an excellent anime. With Serial Experiments Lain being such an in-depth, confusing anime, sometimes you do feel lost and have to try and regain composure, regain your thoughts if you prefer to look at it like that. Some things may not make sense at the beginning, but then an episode or so later things will start to make sense or you will pick up something from a previous episode and slowly put together the pieces. As a whole I really enjoyed Serial Experiments Lain.

So overall just to reiterate, Serial Experiments Lain is not an anime for everyone, you feel lost most of the time, this anime is a thinker (meaning you have to be using your brain to comprehend all of it), many adult themes (not including any of that naughty stuff ;), interesting characters....and in some ways very mysterious, has an odd aura surrounding them.

I'll end with this: Close the world. txen eht nepO

Now and Then, Here and There is an anime not to be taken lightly. This particular anime is one of the most impactful animes that I have ever seen.

This anime shows the harsh reality of war, it depicts the struggles of the people and the themes that ensue really add to the sense of realism. These themes include rape (not seen, but implied), mass genocide, betrayal, abuse, torture and so forth.

Story - The story starts off with a boy named Shu (think of him like a Naruto Uzumaki stereotype if you will...without all the ninja bravado about him, just the personality) a regular boy who ... happens to stumble upon a young mysterious girl named Lala-Ru. After a random battle (where the military tries and abducts Lala-Ru) ensues, Shu does his best to protect her but ends up getting dragged into this entirely different desert, post-apocalyptic (if you will) world. The story continues as Shu tries to rescue and protect Lala-Ru to the best of his abilties and how Shu gets dragged into their war.

Art - Pretty good animation for a 1999-2000 anime. Not much else to say.

Sound - Same tunes are kept throughout the series, but are used at the right times to depict whatever emotion is being portrayed.

Character - Like I said before Shu has the same never give up, always staying positive mentality as Naruto. Shu is a kendo fighter, but at times can be clumsy.
Lala-Ru is always most of the time quiet but holds the key to giving vast amounts of water for the entire land at the cost of her life.

Enjoyment - I enjoyed my experience for watching this anime. It really dragged me in and you can get a connection for the two main characters. At times, you actually feel like you are in a war.

Overall - If you are used to war movies and all that, then I highly recommend this anime to you. If you aren't really that into war movies or can't really stomach it, then don't watch it...even though it does reiterate that no good can ever come from war.....No matter what the cost and how many lives are lost. For those of you who don't watch this, then you are missing out on something special.

For those of you who don't know, Samurai Champloo is the successor to Cowboy Bebop. Also directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, Samurai Champloo takes place in the Edo Period, but with a modern twist...

Story - Like I said before, Samurai Champloo takes place in the Edo Period and involves three main characters: Fuu, Mugen and Jin. I'll go into more detail later on, but Fuu ends up recruiting Mugen and Jin, in order to find the 'Samurai who smells of Sunflowers'.

Art - The art style used is great to look at. It uses bright colours and representation of foliage and the background scenery, makes it ... a real treat for your eyes.

Sound - Featuring soundtracks from Tsutchie, (Watanabe's longtime friend, I might add) FORCE OF NATURE, Fat Jon and Nujabes. Samurai Champloo adds a modern twist to the era of old. Great beats I might add.

Character - I really like the three main characters Fuu, Mugen and Jin.
Fuu: She is a 15 year old waitress, has a bright personality and surprisingly enough can eat ALOT for her size.
Mugen: He is 19 years old, a brash, arrogant and a reckless person most of the time. He has a very unique fighting style that is not common with the traditonal samurai. Also can be a womansier at most times.
Jin: He is 20 years old, extremely skilled swordsman, mostly keeps to himself, and spent the majority of his life training at kenjutsu dojos.
These characters bring real variety to the series, these characters are not your typical happy go lucky type.

Enjoyment - I was looking forward to watching this anime for a while, so of course I really enjoyed watching this anime for the entirety of the 26 episodes.

Overall - Samurai Champloo is a great series, it has the right amount of blood, good laughable moments and great sword/fighting scenes. Apart from the main storyline of Fuu recruiting Mugen and Jin to search for the 'Samurai who smells of Sunflowers', each episode is an entirely different episode in it's own right, if you get what I am saying.

Oh Dragon Ball Z, how you bring back so many fond memories of my childhood. Anyway, let's begin.

Story - Even to this day, I can still remember the story and sagas very throughly. It is one that sticks with you. The story of Dragon Ball Z takes place on Earth and a Saiyan named Goku and the perilous adventures that he and his friends and family must endure to ensure the safety of planet Earth.

Art - Very crisp, sharp quality for its time. Still one of the better looking animes for the 1989-1996 timeline.

Sound - You will hear lots of screaming, explosions and ... witty and sometimes funny comments or remarks. The dialogue is great, the voice actors are amazing. Even to this day Sean Schemmel (Goku) and Christopher Sabat (Vegeta, Piccolo) are still hot in demand. Overall in the sound department. Great opening and ending songs. No complaints from me.

Character - The characters in Dragon Ball Z are really special. You feel a deep connection with them. There are many characters as well. I'll list a few: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Trunks, Goten...and many more. The bond between Vegeta and Goku starts off as a strong and bitter rivalry, but then later on develops into a friendship.

Enjoyement - For me to still remember pretty much the entire storyline of Dragon Ball Z even to this day is saying something. I enjoyed every moment of it. While some may differ with the whole 'it takes three or more episodes just to power up' aspect of it, I didn't really mind it. It doesn't ruin the show or anything like that.

Overall - Dragon Ball Z will always hold a special place to me. Still one of my most cherished/beloved animes. Perfect 10/10 from me ^_^

Air is a beautiful anime from start to finish, you will get emotional, you will feel for the characters and you will get drawn to the story.

Sotry - The story of Air takes place in a ficitonal town where Yukito Kunisaki hopes to find the 'girl in the sky', a goal each generation of his family has passed on for a thousand years. During his stay in this town, he hopes to makes money by using a special form of puppeteering that can make his puppet move without him touching it. Also during his stay here, he meets multiple female characters whom each have an ... interesting tale to tell and certain strange events befall upon them. One in particular is Misuzu Kamio.

Art - The animation is filled with bright colours left, right and centre. An enjoyment for your eyes.

Sound - I really love the soundtrack for Air. The opening song and each individual tune that is played throughout the series, really sets the scene and the mood of the characters.

Character - Yukito and Misuzu are the main characters for this particular anime. While the others somewhat play a prominent role. Don't get me wrong though, it is not like X character is only thrown in the show only to be written off for no particular reason, no, nothing like that at all. But carrying on about Yukito and Misuzu, they share a real special bond in this anime. At first it might seem like a general friendship, but then it develops and blossoms into something more...not a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, but still pretty darn close...No kissing scenes if you are wondering.

Enjoyment - I throughly enjoyed this series. Each episode holds a story in its own right and an emotional attachment at the end.

Overall - If you don't like the whole 'crying' thing, then this anime is not for you. There are no fight sequences, no transformations, none of that stuff. But if you are looking for something deep, emotional and something that will pull on your heart strings to make you cry (I know I did) then this is a great anime for you. The bond between Yukito and Misuzu is really something special. Loved every moment of it.

Death Note is one bloody epic anime, leaving you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. These are the animes, that want to keep me watching into the early hours of the morning. A dark anime, that blends really well.

Story - The basic storyline starts of like this. Light Yagami is a 17 year old boy but he is extremely intelligent for his age, so intelligent in fact that he has helped NPA (National Police Agency) solve multiple cases. Anyway, he does find his life boring but one day, he stumbled upon a diary (or book whatever you wanna call ... it) called the Death Note. At first he thinks the Death Note is just a joke after reading the rules. But all that changes, after he sees the Shinigami (Death God) named Ryuk appear before him.

Art - The art presentation is superb, while it may be a dark anime, it does have colour, but not these bright and vibrant colours.

Sound - The sound is great, everything works with the particular scene, there are no out of place tunes. The sounds consists mainly of the keyboard, guitar and high orchestral latin, gothic music for the intense, edge of your seat moments.

Character - Okay, now I might carry on in this section. Like I said before, Light Yagami is very intelligent, and he wants to rid the world of evil by using the Death Note to his advantage. On the other hand, there is L. This is an interesting concept, Without spoiling anything, Light Yagami can be seen to people as the anti-hero of the series, but L believes what Light is doing is wrong. Yeah I will stop myself there, before I go on and on ranting and adding spoilers :P

Enjoyment - I throughly enjoyed this anime from start to finish, every little twist and turn added in, the unexpected thing happen every now and then, just makes this show that much more epic.

Overall - From episode 1 to episode 37 was one helluva thrill ride. So many suspensful things pop out at you and really does a great job at making you feel closer to Light and L. You get to see things from there perspective and they are characters, you end up caring about and get a better connection between the two.
The only real grievance I had with the show is the ending....which is debatable even to this day. I won't say why, watch it for yourself :)

Perfect 10 from me :D

Being the third title featuring the legendary super saiyan Broly, this one did not disappoint.

Story - The story takes place during the Buu Saga (but does not in any way, co-exist with the main plot of this particular saga) and shows the aftermath of what happened after the fight between Hercule and Android 18. After some of Hercule's pleading and screaming and Android 18's demanding of what she was promised, Hercule finally comes to an agreement, only if she helps Hercule out with a matter of his own. This is where the actual story happens here. During the trip to this mysterious island, Jaguar (long ... term rival of Hercule) introduces Hercule to his bio-warriors but they are quickly defeated due to Android 18, Goten and Trunks (who sneaked in). Anyway, without spoiling anything any further, Goten and Trunks encounter Broly inside a pod and that is when things get really interesting.

Art - Just like what you would expect from any DBZ episode.

Sound - Pretty much what I said above.

Character - This was an interesting move to pull off. The characters are not any of the main characters you would expect to see in a DBZ movie. Except they are the characters that you would most likely see in the sideline. So there are no surprise appearences from Goku, Vegeta, Gohan or Piccolo.
Android 18, Goten and Trunks are the main characters for this film....I guess Hercule can be included as a main character, but I just see him as the comical relief more than anything :P

Enjoyment - I enjoyed my experience watching this film, regardless of what other people might say, this one does not have a bad story, it doesn't suck.

Overall - Adding on from my previous comments. This movie doesn't suck, its good, nothing that will change your whole perspective of the DBZ universe though. All the things you would expect from the DBZ show/movies are all there. Comical relief due to Hercule, great fight scenes and all that.