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Truly it is unfortunate when an anime is just bad. Infinite Stratos 2 is one of the worst anime I have ever had the displeasure to watch. The story continues from where it left off in season one (kinda?) and it seems alright up to episode 3. After episode 3 is where season 2 spirals down into a void so deep that no amount of drugs will get you high enough to get you out of there.

Story (4) - As I said before the show was alright up until episode 3. By the end of episode 3 there is a new character who appears and ... proceeds to give the show an actual plot that could have turned the show into a more serious and interesting; however, it was all scratched and instead the only story there is to be told is Ichika’s growing harem that will most likely never end. Some of the events in this show are just utterly ridiculous. A perfect example of this is episode 6, in which Charlotte’s panties disappear for reasons not properly explained at the beginning of the episode. At the end, the problem is solved (how?) and Charlotte proceeds to call Ichika a pervert when she tries to show him what was going on.

Sound (5) - While I do enjoy the majority of opening and ending themes, I found the opening and ending of this show were mediocre at best. There isn’t much to say about the soundtrack either as every track was entirely forgettable in my opinion, but everyone has their own taste in music, so my own opinion shouldn’t stop you from liking this soundtrack. The voice acting is, for the most part, good; however, I find Cecelia’s voice incredibly irritating.

Art (5) - The animation is rather average and fight scenes are mostly CG. Even then there are very few fight scenes worth mention.

Characters (1) - I find that I dislike just about every character in this anime, especially the females (oh wait, that’s 99.9% of the cast…). Ichika has to be one of the worst protagonists I’ve ever seen in an anime, specifically his denser-than-dense part of his character (oh wait, that’s almost all of his character interaction…). His IS piloting skills range from average to just plain bad, as he is never able to take care of himself in battle for very long without help. The main girls aren’t any better. Here is a list of the main girls and their personality:

• Houki - Japanese childhood friend, easily jealous of other girls being with Ichika.
• Rin - same as Houki, but is Chinese.
• Charlotte - French girl, appears cute, calls Ichika a pervert when she herself causes the perversion in the first place.
• Laura - German girl, doesn’t know culture if it hit her in the face (in her defense, she was very strictly raised as a solder). She calls Ichika her wife (no excuses on this one…) even though they aren’t even together.
• Cecelia - British girl, everything about her is annoying, likes Ichika for one reason: he has “strong and idealistic eyes” (what does that even mean?)
• Tatenashi - An absurdly powerful student council president, tries to seduce Ichika, make Ichika do impractical things like take the girls’ measurements (apparently the teachers allowed it... so did the students...), and likes him for reasons unknown.
• Kanzashi - Tatenashi’s little sister and Japan’s IS representative, jealous of her older sister’s talent (which makes one wonder why Kanzashi is the representative…) and, because of that envy, insists on building her IS herself without anyone’s help. Luckily, Ichika saves the day by helping her and gains yet another girl in the harem.

Entertainments (2) - There are much better harem anime out there such as Clannad, The World God Only Knows, and Heaven's Lost Property. The only "entertainment" that this show provides is within those ephemeral fight scenes; everything else not pertaining to the plot is simply blatant fanservice. I had hoped that, like most second seasons, this season would have actually picked up in terms of plot. The ending of episode 3 really made me look forward to episode 4. Unfortunately, the plot was tossed aside for a whole bunch of needless "comedy" and fanservice. Due to this terrible season, I have absolutely no hope for the upcoming “World Purge” arc due to the synopsis of it. I believe it's safe for me to say that I will never touch this show again...unless it’s for a drinking game, in which case I will be too drunk to care.

For those of you who are looking for a good anime with a deep plot, amazing characters, and total mind screwing, turn away because this is the exact opposite of what you’re looking for.

Some anime watchers have those days where they just want to get away from the real world and would happily jump into an anime without any second thoughts. Just as a “by the way,” Hyperdimension Neptunia is one of those anime where it seems that males do not exist. If there are, they certainly don’t want to show themselves. The show itself has no real over-arching plot, but that’s the point. Now ... let’s get onto the review. Keep note that due to the formatting this show does, I will be comparing some aspects to the games.

Story (5)- There is only so much you can do trying to put two games into a 12-episode show and when you make everybody friends right from the get-go the conflict between the nations are gone. Even though the first arc was important, I was turned-off by the “fan-service” that is wires acting as tentacles. The second arc isn’t that spectacular either. With my main problems out of the way, let’s get into what I liked about it. The fact that there is no real plot is the main point of the show. To really enjoy this show, you have to just not take it seriously at all. I also found it humorous that goddesses could be little girls as well as do absolutely nothing and get away with it.

Characters (5) - I’ll be frank… I LOVE ALMOST EVERY CHARACTER. None of them are dislikable with the exception of CFW Trick (whom I have nicknamed Lickilicky) and a few others. While the characters are cardboard-cutouts of clichéd personalities, I rather enjoyed them. The four goddesses each represent some trait in people whether they are lazy, hard-working, hot-headed, otaku, etc. The main reason I like them so much is because of the way they act and how each voice actor portrays them (even the English voices for the game is among some of the best I have heard for JRPGs). While the characters are mostly goofy, I found that I also enjoyed the serious sides of the characters towards the end of the series where the “real plot” kicks in.

Sound (7) – The opening and the ending is extremely cute and fits with the show very well. The rest of the soundtrack is entirely forgettable with the exception of one or two during the whole plot with Eden. Another factor of the sound I enjoyed was the voice actors. The voice actors in Neptunia are amazing! I especially enjoyed Rie Tanaka’s (Neptune/Purple Heart) and Kana Hanazawa’s (Plutia/Iris Heart) performances since they portrayed their characters so well. Everyone is great; there is nothing more I can say about it. Since the game was also voiced in English, I will also quickly say something on it: one of the best game dubs I’ve heard in a long time.

Animation (7) – Animation isn’t my forte, but I found the art style almost identical to Date A Live. If you enjoyed Date A Live’s art style, you will most likely enjoyed Hyperdimension Neptunia’s art style as well.

Enjoyment (6) - When an anime adapts a game in which the game is a parody of the video game industry, it loses a charm that the game has. If there is one thing that the anime makes fun of that the game cannot, it is the making fun of censorship that is not subtle (see episode 8). Since I watched this anime as it was being aired I found it is just great to sit down each week and watch something that was completely stupid and nonsensical. I recommend this to any fan of the game, but I would also tell them not to expect too much from it.

WARNING: The following review will contain spoilers; read at your own risk. If a high amount of violence bothers you, just drop this immediately and do not watch it. Example: A little girl tied up to a pole and being brutally stabbed to death or another little girl killing herself so she won’t fall into a crazed state. This is not a light watch. You have been warned.

Paranoia can be very complicated, especially if it’s a friend(s) that you are paranoid of (or just everyone). Add delusions, and add curses to it and you’re pretty much screwed since you can’t rely on the magical power ... of friendship (not making fun of friendship). This makes S1 very disturbing with the high amounts of gore it contains. This show appeals to 3 kinds of people: insane people who like to watch others die (hopefully they won’t watch this), people who love dark mysterious themes, and those who just freaking love all kinds of anime.

The events that cause everything to start spiraling downwards are: the death of two people during the Watanagashi festival, the mention of Oyashiro-sama’s curse, and an unknown event that triggers the insanity of a certain character. However, after each arc, the friends are all together and happy as if the events in the previous arc had never happened, and it is set back to before the Watanagashi festival. Like the synopsis, each arc is told in a different scenario (or world take your pick) where there is a certain character that goes insane.

The story is amazing because it is very well paced, it isn’t predictable, and it keeps you guessing on how each of the main characters of the show goes insane. Even though each arc is different and everything is reset, you would expect that there would be no character development but that is wrong. There is always a hint that a character changes each time the world is reset, and every character is very likable in some way (except for one or two). I can’t say much for the soundtrack as everybody has different tastes in music, but I do have to give points to both the OP as it fits the creepy dark tone of the show.

The only real problem (it’s a very small problem) I have with this show is that (which I didn’t mind because season 2 usually picks up everything and makes it amazing (which it did)) it doesn’t offer much explanation to the mysterious events that transpire in each arc and why they go insane. This anime was very enjoyable and I would have probably finished it all in one sitting if I had time. Not for one moment did I find this boring because right from the get-go it grabs your attention with dark elements, makes it go comedic for a bit, and then dives right back to dark. That said, if you are any of the 3 types of people I have mentioned above, you should find this show enjoyable.


Any questions, comments, complaint? Post them out on wall and try to not post anything negative.

(Be aware that I am still fairly new at doing reviews)

Before I start, I’m just going to say that this is my first review and I probably won’t do that great of a job; and because I have not played/read the visual novel yet, I won’t be doing any comparison.

When it was revealed that J.C. Staff would be the ones to do Little Busters, I had a discussion with a friend of mine. She said that Kyoto Animation would do a much better job than J.C. Staff and that Kyoto Animation should be the ones to do all of Key’s works. For the most part, I do agree with her.

In anime your true friends will ... always be there for you no matter what, whether it is through depressing times offering you advice and helping you get back up on your feet, to laughing and just acting like idiots.

Little Busters has these elements, from having hilarious fights between Masato and the entire female cast to the more dark tone of the show. However, the comedic essence of the show outweighs how sad each arc (route?) can be making it hard for each character to tug on your emotions like Clannad and Kanon (2006) did. This is in my opinion due to the pointless filler that most people complain about. However, I disagree with it being pointless. True, it is not part of the main story but it is there for a reason, and that reason is to soften the impact (with comedy) of how sad and dark the next route is. It gives you a good laugh before hitting you again. But it might not need it due to J.C. Staff’s terrible writing. Other than filler problems, I had problems with unanswered questions during Mio’s story such as exactly who is Midori and she came to be as a person, and how Kyousuke knew what was going to happen with their team at the end of season 1. Despite Rin being the main heroine she is not the focus of the story nor does it even show that she is.

Despite these problems I didn’t get bored watching the show, and each character was able to develop in each of their routes (which some people might disagree with; but hey it’s my review). The soundtrack from Key was still good and had no problems with it. This show tries its hardest to survive on symbolism much like Clannad did, but could have done a better job because some people I talked to found some of it confusing (like the rain in Haruka’s route or the parasol in Mio’s route). Overall it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t amazing; and if you like works of Key you should watch this and try not to think too harshly of the show because, well, it’s from J.C. Staff.