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Not gonna go in-depth as this is only a half hour film.

Well, for this particular film, Ishida and Arai decided to flip their roles of Director and Animator. Arai had been an animator for the late Studio Ghibli, now being quite involved with Studio Colorido, he makes his directorial debut with Taifuu no Noruda. The film takes place on a certain isolated island, at a certain middle school, and on the eve of the culture festival. A boy quits baseball after playing his whole life and has a fight with his best friend. Then, they suddenly meet a mysterious, red-eyed girl named Noruda, and a ... huge typhoon hits the middle school.

This is the longest film they have made running 27 mins. It leaves something to be desired for it's typical approach to narrative rather than relying on subtext through their superb visuals. Not to say the animation isn't good, in fact it's really good, but I feel like they are conforming to more recent character designs instead of the their previous works' style that is reminiscent to the more unique Ghibli characters. It's sort of a mash of the two.

The only aspect that's underwhelming is the approach to its story. As typical of most Narrative focused short films, there is just too much of an idea squeezed into an insufficient amount of time, in both production and in the film itself. The story is too complex, forcing characters to develop prematurely and leaving lots of aspects unresolved. The voice acting also could have used a little more work, the characters didn't feel like they had any emotion, farther detaching the viewer from the story.

As I mentioned, it was very well animated and an interesting idea even though events are rather cliche. Has potential to be a decent series if fleshed out properly. Still quite enjoyable. 6/10 (Note that I rate Short Films on a bit of a curve different to that of a series or full length feature film) I'll still be following and supporting Studio Colorido. I think I'll end up ordering the BD if available. And I hope to see a full length feature film or maybe an original single cour series in the future. And when they do, I hope Ishida retakes his rein as director and Arai returns to the drawing board.

Don't listen to this girl above me. There are zero spoilers. This is a great pilot. A pilot for an anime should showcase the basic idea of the theme in which the show would like to maintain, and showcase all of the character designs the creator would like to use.

The theme being an urban take on what seems like a 15th century "Sengoku jidai" taking place in a more modern world. Where de facto Samurai made names for themselves through their skill. We got to see most of the characters, but none were given any back story... there wasn't even any dialogue ("there are spoilers" ... LMAO). All we got to see was the art design, interesting development you'd only know if you've already seen the full show (that didn't make it into the show), well done animation, the music, and the brutality that carried over to the finished product.

This is an awesome clip for someone who enjoyed the film to see. I wonder what we could have gotten from Madhouse if they took head of the actual shows production.

Note: I have not viewed the original live-action film Hana & Alice upon watching this film. Not that it really matters, this is a prequel. So watching this as a standalone is fine. Since there is no synopsis, allow me to set up the story.

9th grader Tetsuko Arisugawa (Arisu/Alice) moves to a new town and enrolls in school. Upon entering her new class, everyone seems to act indifferent towards her. She comes to find out that some awful misfortune only speculated by rumor had befallen the student who used to occupy her current desk the year before. As her classmates put it. She ... has "broken the barrier" and may be subject to it's curse. Upon farther prying and a stroke of luck, Alice discovers that she in fact now lives in the house of the student who was supposedly murdered. The desk behind her is also vacant, a girl who turns out to be her neighbor who has been absent from class for over a year. Hana Arai, the only witness to what had happened to the student. Alice tries to confront this neighbor in order to get to the bottom of what happened to the student known as "Judas".

The story is well written. It manages to be compelling yet is very simplistic. There are elements of mystery but I wouldn't go as far as say it's suspenseful or a thriller. Nothing supernatural or unrealistically grand happen. It's pretty light on the melodrama and is rather comedic, but not overly blatant. Rather than corny jokes and routines, they rely on believable character interactions to provide dry humor. This film doesn't feel like an anime at all. It feels as if you are watching real people interact naturally as you would in your daily life. Hana to Alice is a charming coming of age light drama, nothing more, nothing less.
Rating 7 (for keeping a solid well paced narrative from beginning to end)

The art and animation is gonna be a hot hit or miss topic among people. Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live footage frame by frame. This creates very fluent, lifelike movement of on screen characters and proper psychics to inanimate objects. The characters can also lack detail and sometimes feel out of place in contrast to it's backgrounds. I quite enjoy rotoscope when given proper attention. The full effect of rotoscope is seen with the dancing during ballet class. The colors between characters and backgrounds mesh together well. I also enjoyed the fairly detailed backdrops and lighting effects. My only issue with the animation during one particular scene when the background feels CG rendered and creates that unwelcome contrast I mentioned as we follow Alice from a shoulder perspective running through her home, and during a couple scenes were they use slow motion with no added effects. Rotoscoping may look good when moving in real time, but it's kinda unflattering, choppy, and just looks awkward going frame by frame. I feel like they could have done a better job smoothing out some of those scenes. Doing so would have provided the impact they were going for, instead it's just kinda... there.
Rating 7 (it had flaws, but for what it did right, it looked good)

The music was pretty enjoyable, I don't recall any piece that stood out besides the nice song played during the credits. It was all rather relaxing stuff. The voice acting was very good. The voice audio quality seemed to be a bit inconsistent, and at times, specifically in the classroom, I'm not sure if their intention was to create a reverb or not. Rating 7 (for the good acting)

Characters are the films strongest point. It's everything here. Hana and Alice are both very likable. Alice is polite and almost appears naive, but when a classmate attempts to bully her, Alice promptly shows that she isn't feeble in the least bit. She always seems to be speaking in a somewhat playful condescending manner. Alice is rather impulsive and her aloofness creates some very entertaining moments. The animation does wonders here, the sarcastic and sometimes dumbfounded look on her face really brings out the personality of her character. Hana shares Alice's headstrong attitude, which is why watching them banter is so enjoyable. Hana seems a bit more mature and responsible, taking a somewhat rational thought rather than letting her impulses guide her. She puts up a bit of a tough front, but it's apparent that she immediately takes a liking to Alice and feels like she needs to protect Alice from her goofy self.
Rating 9 (the interaction between these two make the film enjoyable, also so nice to get away from cliche archetypes)

To say I enjoyed this is a bit of an understatement. I loved it. I literally had a smile on my face throughout the film. As I mentioned before, this just doesn't feel like an anime. The story is somewhat compelling but more so about a fun enjoyable atmosphere. Just want to emphasize again, this is not a murder mystery thriller per say. The art was pleasant to view, the characters felt like people I know, there were plenty moments to laugh at, and a moment that tugged at those heart strings just a tad bit.
Rating 9 (had a blast watching this)

Overall the acting is what makes this show stand out, the VA's really brought the characters to life. The story was well written but didn't have a lot of depth or anything that makes it stand out among any other normal (non-supernatural, etc.) coming of age story. And with the sound quality a bit lackluster in the first half, and some minor gripes with certain animation sequences.
The final Score for this show is 7.5-8/10.

(subjectively, I can easily look pass these flaws, I'm gonna give it a 9 on my list, cause I absolutely loved it!)

Akatsuki no Yona, spoiler free.

Akatsuki no Yona is quite a breathe of fresh air from the "edgy" "harem" "ecchi" "school life" "urban" "CGI" plague that's been abundant in the industry as of late. It's definitely a retelling of a classic concept, but there's nothing wrong with that when it's done right. It's nice to see the familiar fantasy era where true warriors of sword and skill rule in the hierarchy of kings and vassals. The music feels culturally on par with it's era, accompanied by good art and animation, and an excellent cast of characters.

We are introduced to a very sheltered, spoiled naive, and ... arrogant princess by the name of Yona. Family and political figures are gathered to the castle in celebration of Yona's sixteenth birthday. We get brief introductions to other characters such as her childhood friends and love interests. However, her peaceful life is shattered that evening when she witnesses her father being murdered by the man she loves. Amid the chaos, her personal bodyguard Hak, manages to flee from the castle with Yona. Left heartbroken, confused, and lonely from this betrayal, Yona begins to gain a new perspective traveling outside the castle walls for the first time. She then embarks on a journey following an ancient legend to gain allies and take up arms to protect the beloved people of 'her' kingdom.

The story takes it's time showing the journey and growth of Yona and gathering her forces. It also gets split up at times to show a developing character of the antagonists. Giving a perspective from both sides really draw in the personal conflict that our heroine is experiencing for ourselves.

Our main heroine is the most attractive part of the show. It's great to see a strong inspiring female lead that feels real. Yona often struggles with her mixed feelings of love and animosity or her own helplessness, but also shows great determination in her resolve. There is also a great supporting cast of badass men, for instance her smug overconfident bodyguard Hak, who has extraordinary strength and on more than one occasion will fight off a number of men himself with ease. Each of the remaining cast all get good arcs delving into each of their stories, besides from one, that seems like it was rushed for completion of the first season. Assuming there will be another.

There's often spurts of comedy that sometimes feels out of place, but is rather entertaining and not really overdone. Again, the pacing is rather nice imo, it gets a little slow here and there, taking it's time giving attention to it's characters depth, such as backstory that explains their perspective and/or personality, or the subtle conflict of romance that foreshadows the future. It's a good balance, cause when the time for action comes, I found most of the conflicts suspenseful and the battles exciting, with good direction and animation.

Akatsuki no Yona was a great experience. Would definitely recommend watching.

Parasyte -the maxim- spoiler free.
First lets talk about the things I didn't like about Parasyte.
.....................................................................
Now that that's covered.

"Parasytes" invade Earth, taking over the brains of human hosts by entering through their ears or noses. One Parasyte attempts to crawl into Shinichi's ear while he sleeps, but fails since he is wearing headphones, and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead, taking over his right hand. Because Shinichi was able to prevent it from traveling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate consciousness. As the duo encounter other Parasytes, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong ... bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasytes, who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi's human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasytes, who devour humans as food.

I love the writing and the direction of this story as it unfolds. The underlying themes of humans are toxic and are pollution etc. are common talk these days, so it was no surprise to hear such philosophy, but then I remember that this story was written in the early 90's, and I feel a bit more respect for it's message. Things are slow and take a nice steady pace. I enjoyed the tense situations and battles the way the were believably (within reason) handled by the characters. The fighting wasn't all super hero crazy like some other generic battle shounen I know, but still exciting. The melodrama is a little potent but it never felt really forced, and had some great moments built up with suspense that genuinely made me care what had happened. There are places I feel that could have been stronger, and left a little bit of detail uncovered, not really any loose ends, but a vague closure. But nothing that I feel was poor.

Shinichi feels more real then other certain MC's with the pacing and progression of his character. His reaction to situations are what you would expect from someone in his shoes, and his growth is very justified unlike some other anime where the hero becomes the savior because, well a hero is needed so they make it convenient. The supporting cast is kinda shallow, but they are not really necessary to develop and are given enough attention to be relevant to the story's advancement, but are not forced into the scenario. Like Murano, who is there to serve as a reminder that Shinichi is changing. And Kana, who is needed to accelerate Shinichi's resolve.

I love the dubstep BGM used throughout the show as well as the OP, ED. The art desig, it looks great and animation is pretty solid during it's action. All and all, I loved this show.
Definitely recommend a watch.

Aldnoah.Zero spoiler free. collective score for both seasons.
I think mecha fans are a bit too picky about this.

In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission found a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. Upon landing, astronauts discovered an enchanted utility later referred to as "Aldnoah," giving the astronauts a status of superiority. Soon, many humans have relocated to Mars, and have adapted to the name "Martians." After Princess Asseylum, a royal Martian princess, descends onto Earth in an attempt to create a treaty between both planets, a war breaks out between Earth and Mars, and Martian soldiers begin to descend from the ... sky, riding steel giants, intent on exterminating humanity.

I love the smooth consistent art and animation. Even the CGI mechs are great. The story hits the ground running and keeps the action and suspense up with excellent directing. Leaving each episode with anticipation for the next. Scenario writing is a bit poor, but the story is pretty decent imo. Besides the war between Earth and Mars, you're also dealing with characters own self-loathing, deceit and betrayal among your own military, and a love triangle on two fronts. The situation awareness and battles are pretty contrived and forced, but entertaining none the least. Although it often becomes inconceivable how the allies and the enemies handle the situation in combat. They merely stand there almost willingly to be cannon fodder. I find story development and character interactions to be the meat of the show. The supporting cast on the Terran (Earth) crew don't play a large role in the story, but have enough screen time to make them likable and keep things from becoming stale with small stories inbetween events. The Martian side of things is where the juice comes from. The second season especially gets good with it's character development. The major turns in plot direction are what appeal to me. Like the jealous romance and the betrayal of trust to accomplish selfish goals. Not the mundane details. This show has problems, but seriously gets hated on hard for the dumbest things. (With that said, Kappa)

Rant time.
Let's talk about our MC and "hero" Kirito-I mean Inaho, Mr. "Deus ex Machina" himself. Completely stoic, with zero personality (that's a pantsu dropper of course). A high schooler at this military academy with top honors in his studies and training. A genius if you will. When war breaks out, he is the only person smart enough to decipher the enemies technology that the humans have never seen, think of strategies on the fly to combat these enemies, and can out maneuver experienced pilots in a trainer, not even a military issue kataphrakt and is quickly recognized as only person who can defeat the greatest threat that humanity has faced. And we're just supposed to accept this? .... sure.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Slaine "muthafuckin" Troyard. The true star of this show. Slaine is a low ranking crew member of the Martian Landing Castle when war breaks out. He appears caring, feeble, and passive. But after an unexpected event, he gains a resolve stronger than any Aldnoah Drive. And starts on a long personal vendetta even when all odds are against him, to climb the ranks, take control of the local force, and start a campaign to achieve his desire. Strong willed, intelligent, passionate, and courageous (*starts to tear up), Slaine will stop at nothing, until his goals are met. (You could compare his resolve with Caius Ballad from Final Fantasy XIII-2. Sure Caius got a little carried away with his motives and his ideas became twisted, but you couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. After all, he wanted to do the only thing he thought he could to save the one person he loved above all else. That's exactly how I feel about Slaine!)

The conflict involving both characters are cliche but still rather interesting.
I liked it, for the most part. The soundtrack was pretty decent. The ending kinda came without much closure, but the journey getting there was fun.

Summer Wars
If you don't wanna read the review I'll get to the point here. I heard good things about Summer Wars from a lot of people. Watched it. It's awful. Also, spoilers.

The characters are boring, there is very little we learn about the MC besides he's a math genius, and the girl comes from a very proud family. The film wastes time introducing a large cast each giving a quirk to their personality and nothing more.

The "romance" if you wanna call it that, is literally nonexistent, until the end of the movie when Okudera decided it would be nice to include. Natsuki has been in ... love with her Uncle for years since she was very young (which is very nonchalantly discovered by her family members) but falls in love with the MC after four days, most of which they had little to no chemistry growth between the two besides her wanting someone to comfort her after her grandma died. (Maybe I should improve my math skills)

Everything is way to convenient to be interesting, I understand it's fiction, but this girl asked this math genius to come to her families house and pretend to be her fiance, where he gets a random email (from the hacking program) that cracks Oz security (what security?). This is also where he meets the grandson, who just so happens to be the fighting champ of Oz, King Kazma. The uncle our FMC is in love with, happened to create the program that's hacking the system. The rest of this family just so happen to be conveniently together at one location who's professions and hobbies loan them the most high tech equipment to combat this threat. Which makes them the only people who can stop it (not the Oz dev team or government or the millions of other people that use Oz), the useless math genius MC, the developer (who said the day before he has no way of stopping it), the fighting gamer (who's avatar require's a paragraph to throw punches) , and plot twist, the amazing angelic Natsuki and her incredible Koi-Koi skills she learned from her grandma. (wait... what?) Can't get more contrived than that.

The whole illegitimate love child and family quarrel drama is too vague to be any interests. I was debating even mentioning it here it was so pointless, so I'll stop.

The fighting was not very creative or exciting to say the least. The character emotions where way too over the top and exaggerated actions on part of the players were too laughable to make the "threat of the world" "fight for survival" feel legit at all. The idea of Oz and it's purpose to conveniently allow it's users to control every facet of life via an account including Traffic Lights, Nuclear Power Plants, Satellites, and potentially military equipment (which conveniently wasn't used) through the simple use of accounts that can be easily manipulated by one man's "program" is just too obvious that it shouldn't even exist. The animation was decent I guess, outside of CG anyway. And the soundtrack is completely forgettable.

What did I miss? Did I watch the right movie? Is there a different Summer Wars? Or maybe I have mistaken that people are talking about "Bokura no War Game".

Today feels like a day for rants. Plastic Memories was kinda disappointing. I expected more from Hayashi, the scenario writer for games ChäoS;HEAd, Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes and Bravely Default. It was decent, but the amount of lost potential imo was too much. To describe the anime in a sentence: Hayashi started to implement his familiar writing style, then decided halfway that he was gonna focus on a completely different direction, but opted against changing the first half of the story.

The story is good written as concept, the directing and execution of said story was poor. Tsukasa fails his college entrance exam and is ... offered a position at SAI Corporation due to his father's connections. SAI Corp is known for its production and management of androids that possess human emotions called "Giftia." Tsukasa's position is in the Terminal Service Department where their main job is to recover Giftias that are close to their expiration. He is then paired up with Isla, a female Giftia who was never given any responsibility other than serving tea to her co-workers.

Tsukasa and Isla make house visits to retrieve these Giftia from their "owners". Giftia have complete emotions rather than being a tool or a pet, they are friends and family to these people. So naturally parting ways with their giftia can get very emotional for both Retrieval Teams and Clients. While working as a team, Tsukasa and Isla gradually become closer to each other, as does Isla's expiration date. Thus, we have the story. Watching these two grow and deal with the stress of their unpleasant job.

Despite having this great set up and a decent cast of characters, they only nail half of the focus. My main gripe is the blatant out of place comedy that ruins really great scenes. For example at the end of episode one, when Chizu overhears Nina and decides to sign the retrieve form, you get that amazing atmosphere with "Again & Again", then the heartbreaking moment when Nina who is so worried about what's gonna happen to Chizu when she's gone, and finally Chizu's gratitude for being so understanding of the value Nina had to her. The feels are strong, then in an attempt to break the tension on the car ride back, Isla starts to shudder and worries she's about to pee herself....... what a buzzkill. And this happens over and over throughout the series.

Things pick up and get tense halfway through when the team has trouble retrieving a target. There's a chase, some conflict of interest between government and private response teams, and some trauma history that is unearthed which causes some friction between characters. Then once the episode is over..... the show suddenly turns away from the whole thing like it could not have happened and now it's strictly SoL Rom/Com? But..... things were getting interesting! Oh well, I like romance, and this had some great moments..... only to be ruined shortly after. Especially when you thought it wasn't going to go down that incredibly cliche moment of awkwardness between a "couple". You are proven wrong with the two worst episodes of anime they could have produced. I'm honestly impressed the last episode was handled as decently as it was. I expected it to be either an ass-pull, a vague closure, or overly dramatic. But instead I really enjoyed it.

Now with the characters. They are interesting at first, but how many times do I need to be obviously reminded that Michiru and Kazuki are Tsundere? Or that Sherry is a borderline Yandere? Or Eru is yuri freak with a speech tick? They are so one dimensional it's painful. Michiru has an interesting past, but it's hardly shown to affect her actions beside from one episode. Also there are a couple lines in one ep that implies Kazuki and Yasutaka had some kind of relationship. But it's never looked into. There's a large cool world with lots of stories to be told. TELL THEM! They tease us with build up then continue to bore us with simplistic, unfocused, what seems like useless filler episodes. They were interesting but don't have an affect on our characters pass that one moment. Instead you wait til halfway through the series to flip a switch from the focusing on the job of our characters, to only focusing on Tsukasa and Isla. I forgot they even had a job retrieving Giftia after episode 5. The romance was expected, but I didn't think it was gonna be so much cheesy fluff after the events that transpired midway. "How should I ask her out *uncomfortable suggestions from others " "W-w-w-would you like to go to the park *blush" "*sees Isla in a towel *blush" "Michiru goes all Tsun Jealous" rinse, repeat, with maybe four or five awesome scenes in between for 7 episodes. Then the admittedly good ending.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the show, the animation and music were great, and it had some really nice moments in between my gripes. I guess maybe I hyped the show a bit too much for myself? I was expecting great things from the combo of Hayashi and the same team that produced another original anime "Mikakunin de Shinkoukei" which I absolutely love! Plastic Memories 5/10

All my reviews are spoiler free aimed towards people who haven't seen the show.

Hibike! Euphonium, thank you Based KyoAni for this spectacular anime.

Story: Kumiko Oumae and her band mates eagerly await the results of their Junior High prefectural competition. Although getting a Gold, they were not selected to represent their perfecture in the national comp. Kumiko is happy to do as well as they did, her bandmate Reina Kousaka on the other hand, is nearly a wreck with disappointment. Immediately the tone is set for what is sure to be a winding emotional road for not only Kumiko, but everyone that she meets along ... first year at Kitauji High School. Kumiko chose Kitauji because it was the only school who had the cute sailor uniforms she loves so much, that and the fact that she didn't know anybody that was enrolling. This was her chance to start fresh, leave whatever stress and regrets she had behind her, and make a new path in the direction she wants to go. Upon hearing the concert band for new students on the first day of class, Kumiko states and I quote, "they suck". Hazuki Katou introduces herself to Kumiko and quickly befriends her and another girl by the name of Midori. After some banter and discovering Midori played in band as did Kumiko and Hazuki had intentions to join, they decide to listen in on the practice. When who just so happens to walk into the band room after them? Why Kumiko's old bandmate Reina Kousaka of course. According to Kumiko she was an exceptional trumpet player and could have chosen a school with a much better rep and history of a strong concert band. So.... why here? Why waste that talent knowing this school had a poor performing concert band?

Story cont: Kumiko decides against joining the concert band at first, she was supposed to turn a new leaf, but after seeing the excitement of Hazuki who is a newbie and Midori who loves the contrabass, she's figures, why not, at least it could be fun. She can even act like she never played euph and try a new instrument. This years concert band is getting a new instructor, Taki Noboru. Not much is know about Taki-sensei, except this is first year as a school instructor. He asks the students to set their own goals, "Do you want to make your goal for the year going to nationals? Or would you rather make good memories? Either is acceptable, but your decision will affect how I will instruct this band." As if not really understanding the seriousness of their decision, the students elect to aim for nationals. The unconventional and harsh lessons cause the students to become disgruntled. Can Taki-sensei turn this failing concert band into a ensemble to be recognized? Or will the previous turmoil that caused the low body count and lack of discipline in the second and third years prove to be a loss cause?

Characters: Kumiko has long record with the euph. She has a bad habit of saying what she thinks out loud without any hesitation, which more than often puts her in awkward situations. Reina takes her playing very seriously, as is shown with her talent at the trumpet. She's rather cold and isn't very personable with her peers. Her reasons for enrollment at Kitauji are unknown. Hazuki is very energetic and a newbie in band. She struggles learning the in's and out's of picking up an instrument. Shuuichi is a childhood friend of Kumiko's, he gets caught up in a triangle/unrequited love. Asuka is an eccentric and charismatic girl. Her attitude and leadership qualities make her popular among the other members, but her charade makes her personal thoughts hard to read. Haruka is the band president, she's rather shy and anxious. She feels like she was pushed into being the pres doesn't have everyone's respect because Asuka turned it down. And struggles with the pressure to keep things together. Kaori is a popular third year trumpet player. Reina's skill as as first year causes friction between Kaori's struggle for her own acceptance, as well as a second year who despises Reina because of this. Aoi is another friend of Kumiko's. A third year who struggles to balance her studies and band. Her actions shake up not only Kumiko but Haruka as well. And there's more! Each student feels pressure and fatigue of trying their best to find themselves while achieving a unlikely goal together.

Animation:Stunning! Everything was gorgeous. The character design, the shine of the instruments, the reflection of the lake, the glow of the street lights, the cherry blossoms blowing in the breeze, movements of the characters, and position of scenes, then there was the performances! It was a joy at every minute just to view. KyoAni at it's best!!

Sound:Fantastic. Not only did we get some sweet Jap Ska from the Kitauji Quartet. But the choice of songs during the scenes were wonderful as well. Then their was the pieces played in the ensemble. Jacques Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld Overture, RYDEEN - YMO, Antonin Dvorak - New World Symphony, Sato, Kunihiro - Walk down the Spring Path March, a wonderful original piece for the anime by Akito Matsuda called Crescent Moon Dance that was incredible among some others.

Enjoyment:Very much enjoyed this. So much good foreshadowing, with bits and pieces given in flashbacks that portray a great deal depth into Kumiko's thoughts without really spelling them out. The relationship and interactions between various characters were always interesting and believable. A decent amount of comedy, some romance that wasn't really cheesy, and drama that wasn't forced or exaggerated on. I love all the story that's here. Every character has depth and there are so many little clues about their lives hidden in fine detail. I thought this show was pure brilliance. KyoAni way to bust out of your funk with this gem! 9/10

All my reviews are spoiler free aimed towards people who haven't seen the show.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches.

The best recipe for the most delicious cake, all you gotta do is give the time it needs to bake, but noooo, gotta have it now, turning up the heat doesn't make it bake faster, IT JUST BURNS!!!....

Story: Ryuu Yamada is known as a delinquent in his high school. One day, he accidentally falls from a flight of stairs onto Urara Shiraishi, the ace student of the school. Yamada wakes up to find that he has swapped bodies with her! The two try to reverse the ... change and discover that kissing triggers the body swap. Yamada takes advantage of this asking Shiraishi to take tests for him and discovers while in her body that she gets picked on for being such a model student. Yamada and his delinquent ways put a stop to the girls picking on her. Student council vice-president Toranosuke Miyamura, discovers this little event and recruits the two to revive the Super Natural Studies Club. Yamada and Shiraishi continue to use this exchange until an unexpected encounter with a certain girl reveals a another usual power activated by a kiss, in fact there may even be a few more....... thus the Super Natural Studies Club declare to discover the secrets of the Suzaku High School "witches". Although this task doesn't come with easy, nor does the situation turn out to be as simplistic as they thought.

Characters: The characters all fall under hard personality tropes. No surprise there really, they are well written though. The cast is considerably large, all have some interesting backstory as well. Unfortunately because of time restraint, you only get a glimpse of these characters potential depth and with a flip of the dime, that's their character development. The best part of the show is the quality voice acting. The cast is great and their performances, especially Saori Hayami as Shiraishi and Ryota Osaka as Yamada are absolutely brilliant! Yamada is always late for school, naps in class and gets abysmal grades. His life is a dead bore. Even though he's a delinquent, he's kinda a nice guy... for the most part. Urara Shiraishi is an exceptionally brilliant student known to be cold and asocial, due to her being ostracized by the students of Suzaku High. Miaymura is charismatic, be able to easily charm most people around him thanks to his look and being friendly in general. Despite this, he doesn't really have any friends. Miyabi is a considerably attractive and cheerful girl, due to her strange interest in the super natural, she is considered among her peers to be a fraud and a liar.

Animation: It's pretty solid. The colors are nice and they move quite well. All the witches have a very distinct and interesting design. Some of their glamor drawings are absolutely beautiful. The OP was amazingly done. As was some of the faded frames during flashbacks and things of that nature.

Sound: The music was pretty decent. Love "Kuchizuke Diamond" by WEAVER. Actually started listen to more of their songs. Choice of BGM was fun when it needed to be and dramatic when it should. It did it's job.

Enjoyment: This is where I'm torn. I thought is was really funny, I also thought it was very clever concept. I love the chemistry shown between our MC and lead witch. I also like all the characters and the story behind their personality and actions. But it wasn't nearly fleshed out enough to make the connection between Yamada and the witches, it was all really forced. And then the story was also incredibly rushed. The scenes were good but lacked any impact when they were so abruptly introduced and resolved. Near the end it almost became confusing, and not in a in-depth convoluted sense, but more like, "well we're running out of time, so we'll skip the why and just go with the how".

So much was cut out, not just comedy but little bits of development that would make character relationships feel like they had a connection. And the quick pace eliminated any type of suspense or mystery to the development of the story. All of this could have been avoided with another 12 episodes and following the source material. This could have been an incredible show. As it is, it's merely fun. Definitely worth watching. 7/10.