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This anime is a hidden gem.

Unlike most anime based off manga written by professional mangaka or popular writers and their light novels,
Kemono no Sōja is a novel tetralogy written by Nahoko Uehashi, an Ethnologist, writer and a professor of ethnology.
And that really shows throughout this work.
She was also the latest recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award (aka the Nobel Prize for Children's literature).
And as such the story and the character development was downright phenomenal.

The studio also does a really great job giving the anime an unique, artistic fairytale-storybook-like feel to the show.

It does feel a bit slow at times ... but I wouldn't want it any other way.

The show can easily be put off as just another children's series, and it might very well be. But the depth of the series and the themes it explores set it far above most other series of the same genre. Allowing the series provide plenty of enjoyment, as well as sentiments of all sorts for viewers of all ages.

This is a series that I will definitely read if it ever get's published in English or when my Japanese get's good enough, whichever comes sooner. Probably even both.

I look forward to watching/reading more of Uehashi sensei's works.

Hey there

Before I start I just want to ask you to read this while playing the song in the background. Look it up "Tsuki No Waltz"

it's only five minutes long, you have little to lose but a great song to gain!


Count the beats!
one two three one two three one two three one two three one two three one two three
quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow
...

Now, onto the review
A very pretty song by Mio Isayama and animated by Madhouse.

A very traditional styles waltz with a fun rhythm that had that medieval vibe that you'd expect in a fantasy ball.

The art is of a great hand-drawn style that really fits the beauty and he magic of the song.
Only downside is that dolls creep me out X(

quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow quick-quick-slow

My first Manga review so go easy on me please :)

As a fellow Ballroom Dancer-anime lover I naturally decided to look for a ballroom anime and this manga is the little gem that came up. I was not expecting much since the Japanese Wikipedia doesn't even contain a page for Swing so i just quickly skimmed the first chapter until I landed on page 20. At that moment I realized, damn this manga is actually pretty funny.

At first glance everything about the main character, Tatara, just seems like a robotic version of Touma from A Certain Magical Index. However as the story went on and ... the main character actually gets better at each of the dancesport dances he slowly grew on me and eventually even had me cheering in my mind as I read through the competitions. And yes he's a bit overpowered but man does he fit the mold of a good lead.

I guess what impressed me the most is that it actually included and introduces other ballroom and latin dances, not just the waltz! from all my years watching anime I've never even seen the characters do anything but the waltz, almost as if the Japanese people have never even heard of anything but the waltz! Which I'm sure is wrong, pardon my generalization.

For those interested in Ballroom dancing I highly recommend this series. The main leads are all a bit supernaturally talented and you can't actually see a partner's mirage when you watch a guy practice alone but all the technicalities of each individual dance and all the teaching, practicing, are highly accurate. Takeuchi-san's done his research. I'd even venture to say he's quite the ballroom enthusiast himself to make such a great manga.

I'd highly recommend this Manga to anyone even with the slightest interest in Ballroom Dancing and what it really is.

Military is a miniseries of short clips and are meant to provide a short laugh in it's joke of the day style.

If you happen to have a few minutes to kill just short of enough time for a full anime episode, give Military a shot.

Each episode comprises of a scene of the characters interacting with each other in over the top ways using different forms of World War 1 to modern to made up weaponry. However at the end of each episode they'd give a nice informational clip of a description of the actual military technology that the characters used.

People I'd recommend Military to: ... warfare fanatics and people with short spasm of free time.

For the longest time I considered Angel Beats to be one of my favorite anime.
It's one of those anime that makes you feel the good in the world.
And that's a great thing.
I will warn you that the art quality does leave a bit to be desired.
The anime opening is one of my favorite melodies ever and I believe that the music contributes a lot to my overall enjoyment of the show.
I will warn you that the anime is however, quite inconsistent.
One of its biggest flaws are like many other reviews have said, is that it's poorly paced. The same way Sword Art Online rushed ... through the first arc, this anime did the same thing with its only arc.

But if you're going to watch the anime anyways, I'll let you in on a little secret:
Watch the entire anime from opening to the clips that are added after a few of the endings.

You know how they say that for this anime you either love it or you hate it. Well, I'm willing to bet that more likely than not the people who sticked through and watched the whole thing got more out of it and liked it a lot more than those who don't and complain about the biggest "plotholes".