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The following review includes spoilers for the season finale, but literally nothing happens in this show so it's totally cool:

Forgive me if this review seems rushed because the fact of the matter is that it is. I have spent twelve dreadful, painstaking weeks putting up with this nonsense so you guys don't have to and, frankly, it wasn't even almost worth it. There is literally nothing about NTR's story or formula that makes it worth watching. Hell, the only reason I haven't given consistent F's to every episode is that the art isn't terrible and Yuma is kind of cute. But that doesn't matter anymore. ... The point is- NTR is a garbage anime about garbage characters and its a garbage adaptation of a relatively decent manga series.

To sum the "finale" up in a nutshell, Yuma finally harnesses 1% of the common sense it takes to figure out that Fujiwara is an abusive jerk. Hotaru goes through the whole spiel of, "Oh, no, it's okay. He only hits me when I refuse to have sex with him," which is apparently a completely fine excuse as far as everyone in this anime is concerned and, what do you know, Yuma is left unsatisfied and unloved for the umpteenth time in the last twelve episodes. Meanwhile, Takeda continues to literally sit there and serve his purpose as a metaphorical punching bag for Yuma's transition into lesbianism. Within another two minutes or so, it finally clicks in Yuma's microscopic brain that she might just be interested in women. So, after confessing like three more times or whatever, Hotaru finally figures out that Yuma is being totally serious and the two kiss in front of like six million people in Shibuya crossing or whatever iconic Japanese street this particular series decided to end in.

Of course, this happens right after the customary yuri line of, "Two girls in love? It can not be!" and if there was even a drop of justice in this world, these girls would have been hit by a car right then and there. But considering the creators of NTR secretly hate every single one of us, we're greeted by a monochromatic montage of the boring scenes from the last eleven episodes that ultimately ends with an even more boring shot of Yuma and Hotaru talking in an elevator- presumably about how they feel super naughty or how they want to make out or something. Either way, it is a conversation I have no intentions on ever thinking of again, considering that as soon as this review comes to a close I am going to wipe NTR from my memory forever.

In Summary:
I can wholeheartedly recommend NTR to anyone out there that I utterly despise; I think this series would be great for you guys. But for anyone that I do not wish death upon, avoid this boring excuse for a cuckolding yuri anime. You can leech the same amount of thematic content by placing two of your little sister's barbies on top of each other and making them kiss. In fact, I would honestly prefer that -- because at least that wouldn't consume twelve weeks of my life and it could be over within seconds. NTR isn't the type of series that is bad in the sense that it's poorly made or put together, it's bad in the sense that it is not even as fun as a trip to your grandparents' house on Christmas Eve. Think about what it would be like to actually watch paint dry. Good, now think about what it would be like to blow on that paint for hours upon hours until it becomes dry. That is what NTR feels like, and I am so incredibly thankful that it is finally over.

Episode Grade: F
Series Grade: F

I was first introduced to Yosuga No Sora during an ecchi panel at AnimeBoston several years ago. Me, being your run-of-the-mill otaku, thought the incest subplot was AWESOME and I threw the series onto my watchlist immediately. I mean, anyone who says they don't ship brother/sister pairings in anime literally all of the time is a liar. Unfortunately, that part of the series doesn't show up in full force until the last four episodes of 'FOUR DISTINCT STORY ARCS'. The rest of the series is just Haruka trying to bang other girls that he is less compatible with. There's the oujo-sama, the shrine maiden, the ... next-door neighbor, and even the archetypical class president who's love is never reciprocated! Now that we've got the building blocks for our harem, the only thing we need is an incredibly dense and mundane protagonist.

Queue Haruka Kasugano. In the beginning of Yosuga No Sora (Aptly named after the indisputable best girl), Haruka and Sora move to some random town in the country to cope with the recent death of their parents. Fortunately, they don't seem to care about this tragic event in the slightest and worry about more first-world concerns like, "Where are we going to buy groceries?" or "Why don't our cell phones have any reception?" The biggest problem for Sora, however, is that she is so sexually attracted to her twin brother that she comes off as a friggin' stalker half of the time. Being stricken with mysterious health issues that she's had since birth (I think?), Sora is a bit of a roadblock for the other girls that want to jump on Haruka's yaoi stick simply due to the fact that he has white hair -- or something. I don't know what anyone sees in this guy. He's essentially Makoto from School Days with an IQ slightly higher than 10.

Yosuga No Sora follows that confused formula many visual novel adaptations suffer from where they try to animate every single arc instead of focusing on a unified 'true' route. As is customary, this results in plot that feels detached from any form of realism as Haruka spends three episodes with each girl trying to get into their pants and one episode of patting himself on the back for doing it. It isn't until the second half of disc two where Sora finally halls the balls to just try and bang her brother and, what do you know, they become sexually obsessed. In fact, they become so obsessed with one another that, even when one of the other girls walks in on them boning literally at their front door, they don't even stop. What's even less believable is that ten minutes later, no one even cares anymore. Now, I know Japan has different standards than America when it comes to certain familial relationships, but this is still totally not normal. The only girl who seems to understand this is the class president -- IE: The only one that never gets to bang Haruka in the first place.

At the end of the day, this is a story about three unlikable, uneducated girls falling in love with an equally unlikable, uneducated protagonist. The only character that edges over that 'more than meets the eye' marker is Sora who, depending on the way you look at things, is a narcissistic weirdo with forced, plot-induced health issues. Hell, Yosuga No Sora spends literally 50% of its duration retelling the story about how Kazuha and Akira might(?) be sisters but literally none of that even matters once we pass the halfway point.

Now, even with its many shortcomings, Yosuga No Sora is still kind of enjoyable. I mean, it's pretty much a softcore hentai series with actual downtime between sex scenes. And while that downtime is incredibly stiff (Pun not intended) and boring, it still exists. Yosuga No Sora is daring -- that I give it props for. It's a slightly less mainstream series that actually dared to animate a brother and sister getting it on, remaining true to the roots of the game. I just wish that those periods of downtime were filled with something a little more than static characters trying to figure out how to take their pants off.

In Summary:
The only reason you want to watch this show is the incest. Don't lie to me- I know you. I am you. Fortunately, I bit the bullet for everyone and can safely say that you only need to watch the last four episodes of this series to get what you came for. Everything before that point is just a forced reiteration of the nonsensical romance you've already seen in the many harems before this. The only bonus is that Yosuga No Sora has a load of fanservice and actual softcore sex scenes. The downside is that 75% of those sex scenes would be exactly the same if Haruka was boning a body pillow.

(Please note, there are many spoilers in this review)

I typed up probably seven different openers for this review before realizing that nothing I say can possibly prepare you for what's to come. This introduction, or lack thereof, actually goes on to mimic the underlying themes of this series in more ways than one. WorldEnd (Which also goes by the incredibly long title of 'What Are You Doing At The End Of The World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?') is more than just the hyperdramatic adaptation of a light novel going by the same name, it's a story about never being prepared; it's a ... story about how everything in life comes and goes far too quickly for us to comprehend. But, at the same time, so much of the beauty in life can only be leeched from it due to its apparent absence in the first place.

WorldEnd is a series that can, by no means, be nailed down to one general concept. The scope of its meaning is as vast as the world it takes place in -- a world in which humanity has all but vanished. The remaining life forms have taken to the skies, building civilizations upon floating islands and relying on creatures known as 'Leprechauns' to fight in a never-ending war. The leprechauns in WorldEnd, however, are not your typical Irish, fun-loving drunkards. Instead, they are girls born from children who died before having anything to live for, and the main leprechaun who we follow throughout WorldEnd goes by the name Ctholly Nota Seniorious.

Ctholly initially comes off as a sort of aloof, curious girl, struggling to fit in with a world full of disfeatured humanoids. The irony in this, however, is that those without extreme physical deformities (Or those who appear human) are actually the ones known as the 'disfeatured' in WorldEnd. Partway through the pilot, we are also introduced to the second protagonist, Willem Kmetsch, as he encounters Ctholly for the first time. After showing her around the island for a bit, Ctholly departs and Willem is left on his own. Having recently fallen on hard times, he reluctantly takes on a job as the caretaker for a nearby military facility. Of course, he doesn't really understand what he's getting himself into until he shows up and it's less of a warehouse and more of an orphanage full of young girls. And while this seems like a pain to him at first, his attitude takes a dramatic shift when he realizes that these girls are the only weapons civilization has left.

This is the first sign of tragedy out of many. Yes, the idea of young girls being used as weapons is rather unfortunate and incredibly sad. But throughout the next eleven episodes, the series begins to steamroll down a path in which we grow attached to every single one of them only to have those relationships severed and beaten by the end of the series. The most dramatic of all of these relationships, however, is the budding romance that slowly begins to flourish between Ctholly and Willem.

Without giving away everything, something happens to Ctholly that begins to drain her sanity. Slowly but surely, her memories begin to fade and her hair begins to change colors, turning into a violent shade of red instead of her normal, subtle blue. The shift in hair colors is not just a shift in appearance, however. This physical change mimics the drastic mental change that is occurring within her at the same time. Ctholly is bombarded with confusing images and the voice of tortured young girl, speaking in eerie metaphors. And while none of what this voice is saying makes sense to us, the sheer manner in which they are said is enough to signify the deterioration of her psyche. The worst part of this is that Ctholly knows what's happening to her.

Day after day, Ctholly remembers less of herself and clings tightly to the one thing she knows for sure -- that she's in love. She tosses aside her slightly-tsun outlook from earlier in the series and simply adopts the fact that she loves Willem, making it known to him every chance she gets. And while he spends a decent amount of time avoiding the subject, it's clear that Willem feels the same way. The steamrolling tragedy that we all know is coming screeches to a halt and, for just the slightest moment, everything is perfect.

But then it's not.

Willem takes Ctholly to a nearby military ship after catching wind of a weapon that could help her fading consciousness. When tuning one of the other leprechauns weapons, however, he discovers something that stays with him for the rest of the series. The monsters that these girls have been fighting have actually been humans the entire time. And while exactly how that happened remains open to interpretation for us viewers, it's crystal clear to Willem. His vision and outlook become distorted and he begins to lose his grip on reality in a way both incredibly similar and incredibly different to Ctholly.

The final episode is like lightning -- it comes and it goes quicker than we're able to comprehend. Ctholly loses her grip on reality as battle breaks loose and slips into a coma. Willem, incapable of coping with the thought that this might be the end for her, erupts into a hate-fueled rage, slaughtering any monster he comes across as the rest of the army and several of the other leprechauns fight for their lives. One of the girls, Nephren, has a particularly harsh time with this, ultimately sacrificing herself so that a few others might live. Just as she collapses, however, Willem finds her. And, in a last-stitch effort so save something, he dives after her as she falls off of the airship.

The following five minutes go on to create one of the most heartbreaking and tear-inducing scenes I have ever seen. Ctholly manages to persuade the girl inhabiting her mind to let her come back to reality one last time -- all so she could save Willem. Then, as she stands surrounded by corpses on the edge of the airship, her last strands of blue hair change to red and she dives. Freefalling thousands of feet in the air, Scarborough Fair and the endless barrage of strange, psychological metaphors from Elq assault our ears and our hearts as we watch this girl we've fallen in love with trade away her sanity for someone else's happiness. A dual-monologue between Willem and Ctholly breaks out as she reappears out of thin air and desperately attacks the monsters surrounding him. As the monologue loses steam, Ctholly does as well. Her attacks slow as she is impaled by countless tendrils and lifted high up into the same sky she descended from just minutes ago.

The battle comes to a close and everything we have grown to love over the past three months is stripped from us quicker than it was given. The few scenes that follow only make it harder.

In Summary:
What an incredibly heartfelt and gorgeous series this was. The amount of love put into this project is palpable on all accounts and, thanks to one of the most well-written female characters in years, the mark that WorldEnd leaves will be a lasting one. The harmonious blend of intimate Celtic music meshed with tragic fight scenes and flawless acting creates something much more immersive than you would normally find in any visual medium. For a few seconds, it even feels like we're there. Something that important is hard to put into words, but if I had to limit my description of this series to one, it would be 'beautiful'. Please, set aside a night and watch this all in one go. You won't possibly regret it.

After air conditioning and how it feels to take my socks off after a long day of work, anime and baseball (In no particular order) are my two favorite things in the entire world. That being said, when I first caught wind of Battery (No, that isn't a pitch-velocity pun), I was ecstatic. The fact that a baseball anime that emphasized emotion and relationships instead of action and energy was going to come to life was like a dream come true for me. However, after completing Battery, I think it's safe to say that it wasn't a baseball anime at all. Instead, it's a melodramatic, ... character-driven drama series that uses baseball as a metaphor for growing up and accepting change. What is going to make this review different from the widespread critical reception is that I'm actually okay with this. And while much of Battery's execution in terms of its dramatic elements does wind up falling short, it still possesses a plethora of subtle beauty that many people seem to be overlooking when it comes to analyzing it.

In the beginning of the series, we're introduced to Takumi Harada -- an angsty and conceited middle-school pitcher. Takumi places himself on a pedestal much higher than that of the average middle-school baseball player and essentially sees everyone that tries to interfere with his way of doing things as nothing more than an utter nuisance. That being said, when he finally encounters Gou Nagakura (The backup catcher for Takumi's new team) the path of narcissism he's been heading down since birth begins to deviate, albeit ever so slightly. Gou, who essentially demands that Takumi throw to him, expectedly struggles to catch his pitches at first. However, being powered by determination and excitement at the budding pitcher, Gou adapts and is soon able to catch for Takumi. Boom, battery formed. Now there's the whole issue of having the rest of the team accept them as well -- something easier said than done considering Takumi's attitude toward the rest of the team.

From this point on, Battery begins to use Takumi's attitude as a roadblock for character progression. That being said, the protagonist converts into the antagonist seeing as he's the only thing halting progression for the story. Everyone is waiting for Takumi to change and, unfortunately, he never really does. This is where the series essentially starts hurling it's problems at you like an Aroldis Chapman fastball.

With Takumi never changing his outlook toward baseball and his teammates, is there really any point to Battery at all? No, not really. The themes begin to become diluted and the characters, even Gou and Takumi, begin to distance themselves from one another. And, after a few out-of-place time skips, the series comes to an unsatisfactory close with nearly everything the same exact way it was when it all began. So what was the point?

Here's the thing -- maybe the general idea that the director, Tomomi Mochizuki (Ranma 1/2, Pupa), was trying to get across is that maybe, sometimes, there doesn't need to be a lesson learned or a character changed. We've seen countless examples in films where, once the story wraps up, everything stays the same way it was to begin with. Sometimes, what writers and directors want us to see is limited purely to how different people in a given environment interact with each other which, in all honesty, is something Battery does very well. The only problem with this is that a large portion of the anime community isn't accustomed to slow, seemingly meaningless tales like this. Many anime viewers want things like instant satisfaction, character progression, and closure. But that sad truth is that many writers don't believe cinematic aspects like this are needed to convey what they truly want to. This is where the whole analytical part of reviewing this series gets tricky.

On a lot of the reviews I've read for Battery, the writer says something along the lines of, "If you want to watch a baseball anime, go watch X or Y." This misinterpretation of the general concept is just one of the driving forces that wound up culminating in Battery's under-6.00 score on Myanimelist. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of missteps in how the series played out (Nearly all of which coming in the latter half) but there's something most people are missing when it comes to giving a numeric score to this series.

Battery is well animated, well written, and beautifully scored and composed thanks to Akira Senju with OP/ED performances from anderlust. Side note: I firmly believe the Battery OP is by far the best of Summer 2016. The story, however, deviates from standards in its inconsistency and failure to follow accepted anime norms.

The X-Factor that comes into play when grading any particular series is the 'Enjoyment' element of the subject. The unfortunate truth for Battery is that it just doesn't particularly cater to the average anime fan. With this in mind, much of the subtle and silent beauty the series possesses winds up being overlooked due to its slow pace and static characters.

In Summary:
Battery is not for everyone. If you go into it expecting another shounen/action/sports series, you've come to the wrong place. Battery is an extremely slow, yet stunningly gorgeous and realistic coming-of-age story that reminds us of how things don't always get better in the end. And while we don't wind up ever finding out what the future has in store for Takumi and Gou, we have solace in experiencing the budding of their relationship and their struggles in just a small excerpt of their lives. Enjoyment for this show really boils down to how much you can empathize and relate (Or in many cases even hate) the character interactions displayed in front of you. If you're looking for a teen melodrama and want a break from the average subject matter, try this one out. It has problems, yes, but I'd say its smooth and enjoyable ride.

Many years ago, when the young me was still trying to figure out what exactly anime was, I stumbled upon a title many of you may be familiar with, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The way the characters essentially jumped out of the screen and beckoned for attention left such an impression on me that I actually cited it as my favorite show of all time for a little while. What I didn't know at the time, however, was that the mastermind behind the series, Hiroyuki Imaishi, would go on to form Studio Trigger several years later and, as many fans of the studio say, "save ... anime." And while I don't necessarily believe that anime needs "saving", I believe it's pretty easy to say that Trigger has definitely established a name for themselves. After completing Kiznaiver, I can understand why.

Kiznaiver follows the lives of a group of teenagers that are thrust into an experiment in which all of them become connected by an implant known as the "Kizuna" system (Kizuna meaning "bond" in Japanese). Following the implant, our protagonists are told that any pain any of them receive from this point on will be evenly distributed amongst the entire group. Obviously, the teens take turns freaking out but ultimately accept their fate. I mean, how long can this possibly last? It's just an experiment, right?

Well, as things progress, the Kizuna project begins to look a little too in-depth to be considered "Just an experiment". The pain that everyone shares, which is purely physical at first, snowballs into a system that connects not only their nerves but their hearts and minds as well. Not only can the group feel each other's physical pain now, they can feel each other's, well...feelings. This creates an atmosphere in which each individual is afraid of even thinking, let alone doing anything harmful. As interesting as that sounds, the real beauty of Kiznaiver lies in the after-effects this implant system has on the group.

Each member selected for the experiment is vastly different from the next -- each being specific embodiments of anime tropes or stereotypes (Interesting fact: Each member actually represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins). Having these completely different people thrown into a singular group and forced to cooperate with each other is obviously going to have its ups and downs. Despite that, many of the characters find ways to look past their differences and form their own unique bond, separate from their forced one. This bond, however, winds up unintentionally amplifying anything that the Kizuna system forces on them, resulting in a giant mess of emotions easily visible to themselves and us viewers.

THIS PARAGRAPH IS SPOILER HEAVY. As the series progresses, we begin to uncover more secrets of the Kiznaiver experiment. Sonozaki Noriko, the girl who acts as the figurehead for our protagonists' Kizuna group, is actually an experiment herself. In fact, she and Katsuhira have their own unique Kizuna that leaves long-lasting impressions on both of them. Basically, Sonozaki was selected to carry the burden of everyone else in the original Kiznaiver group, which was comprised of children given up by members of the lab. What this essentially means is that Sonozaki was feeling the pain of around twelve children at once, while none of them felt anything. And, as if that wasn't enough, the system amplified itself within her and could only be subdued by large doses of drugs that had to be administered to her nearly 24/7. The end result was Sonozaki becoming almost as much of a zombie as the other kids, who were left with no original emotions of their own.

Katsuhira, also being an original child, has not felt anything in years. But, as his Kizuna system with his new "friends" begins to dissolve, those feelings come rushing back. Little by little, he remembers what it's like to be alive; he remembers all of his old friends. In fact, he even visits them in one of the last few episodes and goes on to create possibly the most emotional moment of the show when he realizes that they've become more like dolls than actual humans.

Following several group-disbanding fights, our characters must fight battles with themselves in order to determine what exactly they want to do from this point on. However, these battles aren't easily fought as each of them still have residual pain from the experiment left over. Eventually, they all meet up again and, after a few more fights, it is revealed that this pain is actually not from the experiment at all -- it's the pain of actually being connected to one another. The experiment was a success in that manner, considering that each body remained linked in a unique and personal way.

Kiznaiver teaches us a lot about friendship, bonding, and free will. It demonstrates that forced friendships are nothing more than artificial, worthless creations while, at the same time, showing us that sometimes you can find beauty in unexpected places. Even though our characters were unlikely candidates for friends, they wind up becoming just that. It shows us a lot about how being judgemental can tear something apart before it even begins and, honestly, it's really beautiful. The characters were so well fleshed out that their relationships seem to parallel real-world friendships and romances. It becomes nearly impossible to root against any of them.

Kiznaiver teaches us that even in our darkest moments, there is still light. It's just that sometimes you might need a little help finding it.

In Summary:
Trigger demonstrates that they're more than just good looks and comedy in this well-written and incredibly beautiful original series. Kiznaiver utilizes a realistic, intimate cast in order to lure the viewer into a fall sense of security that may just wind up tearing them apart from the inside out. With themes and lessons that parallel real-world friendships and what it's like to be miserable, it's quite hard to not take something away from this series. Don't watch this with a friend, as you will be compelled to awkwardly hug one another after it's over. Kiznaiver is a fantastic anime that shows us the true meaning of friendship while still having time to remind us of what it means to be alive.

Okay, so I don't know much about boats apart from what I learned from Kantai Collection (Which was still literally nothing) but I'm pretty sure it isn't ideal to have an entire crew comprised of fifteen-year-old girls. That being said, High School Fleet dives (Pun intended) into a world in which roughly 75% of the Japanese navy isn't even old enough to buy cigarettes. The result from this isn't an economical boom in the naval industry or increased maritime production, it's a complete, utter mess in which no one really has any idea what the hell they're even doing on a ship in the first ... place. But that's fine as long as you throw in scattered fan service, right?

Wrong. High School Fleet (Or Hai-Furi if you're that guy) seems to have no idea what it's trying to do throughout its entire 12-episode voyage (Pun intended Part. 2). What starts off as an interesting concept (That totally wasn't piggybacking off the success of KanColle), quickly becomes a jumbled battle or friendly-fire and some girl with twintails that was completely misplaced in an aptitude test and should never be driving (Piloting?) a boat ever in a billion years. Oh, and it's all caused by an alien rat or something. Yup.

Allow me to elaborate on that last sentence...Oh wait, I can't! High School Fleet never even attempts to clarify why there are weird alien rat creatures that are able to infect and consume the minds of Japanese schoolgirls and force them into attacking literally everything that they see. Instead, the mature doctor-type fifteen-year-old is just like, "Hey guys, I figured it out. It was the rats, lol" and everyone else is just like, "Ohhh yeah, that makes sense" and they just leave it at that. WHAT?! You can't just throw in a plot device like that and not ever explain anything about it! Did they leave that episode out or something? Or were the alien rats simply just a means of forcing teenage girls into naval combat with actual boats instead of just cute girls with cannons on their backs in order to tailor to the twenty-five people in the anime industry that are actually interested in that.

If there is anything High School Fleet succeeds in, it's making naval combat look like a complete cakewalk. Misaki Akeno, the "captain" of the Harekaze, has literally no idea what she's doing and her entire crew knows it. Hell, even Akeno knows it and, at various points throughout the series, is just like, "Hey can someone else do this please?" but none of the others girls ever step up -- probably because, I don't know, they're teenage girls?! Instead of actually commanding her ship, Akeno just yells, "Hard right rudder!" over and over again until the series ends and the Harekaze still somehow manages to come out on top of every battle -- further proving that teenage girls shouldn't be in command of the navy.

What High School Fleet should have done instead of relying so heavily on boring naval skirmishes would be to focus more on its characters because, in all honesty, most of them were pretty great. The Harekaze had an incredibly lovable roster with tons of unique, cute girls that could even compete with Kancolle in many aspects. This, of course, brings me to the question of, "Would I have liked this series more if it was just a straight up slice-of-life?" Strangely enough, the answer to that question would probably be "yes". The fact of the matter is that everything in High School Fleet apart from the characters is just flat-out bad. I think the real sin is that the writers actually knew this and threw in swimsuit-filler any chance they could get before reluctantly saying, "Okay, time for another battle," and begrudgingly getting back to work.

When the screen isn't completely taken over by the ocean (So probably around 30% of the series), the artwork is actually nice and refreshing. Character designs are clear, vivid, and overflowing with moe. The diversity of the girls is a huge plus and, I hate to keep making this comparison but you literally have to, harkens back to Kancolle and how its different artists were able to design different, specific types of boat girls. The only problem with this is that the majority of the girls in High School Fleet should have never set foot on a boat in the first place.

In Summary:
High School Fleet is essentially what happens when you try and turn Kantai Collection fanart into a full-blown anime series. While the characters are endearing and absolutely adorable, everything else (Particularly the naval skirmishes) falls flat. When you get down to it, this entire series is built on a plot that is not only confusing but straight-up stupid and inexplicable. If you take away the alien rat things, High School Fleet would have just been a bunch of teenage girls sailing around on boats all day which, in all honesty, would have been better than what it actually was. Even the niche fans that watched this show for all the boat-stuff will easily be able to decode how hard this series tried to cater to them. But when all you know about boats is the term "Hard right rudder," it's probably best to stick to slice-of-life.

"Day by day the world becomes a healthier, safer, more beautiful and wholesome place"

I honestly don’t know how to even start this. Harmony is the second in a series of [unrelated] films based on the works of Japanese science-fiction writer, Satoshi Itoh (Also known as Project Itoh). This particular piece hones in on the life of Tuan Kirie several years after she attempts suicide alongside two of her friends, Miach and Cian. Harmony is set in a world ruled by technology — where nanomachines are implanted in children at birth in order to “preserve” their lives under the pretenses of health and safety. Miach is ... one of the very few who detests this world. So much so that she manages to coerce Tuan and Cian into taking their lives alongside her in an effort to demonstrate true free-will. However, Tuan and Cian ultimately fail the attempt and time continues to tick forward without Miach.

But not for long.

After being dismissed from active duty as a peacekeeper/investigator for the new government, Tuan returns home to Japan — a nation she has grown to despise since the passing of her best friend. Upon her arrival back at home, she meets up with Cian, who seems to have made a pretty decent life for herself. She has a job, does volunteer work, and she’s staying happy (Though that last part is a given considering the new, augmented world basically forces you into happiness). This is where things take off. Tuan and Cian go out to dinner at a restaurant near Cian’s place, where she brutally stabs herself to death in front of Tuan and the rest of the restaurant. It is then revealed that Cian is not the only civilian to abruptly commit suicide, but that the death toll has climbed high into the thousands. Now, keep in mind, this is all set in a world taking every possible precaution to limit death. In fact, death is so seldom in this utopia that most people go their entire lives without witnessing it. After investigating the issue further, Tuan starts to uncover a trail of shadows that all wind up tying back to Miach. Eventually, Tuan begins to question whether or not her old friend is actually dead.

I’m going to cut myself off from detailing any more of the plot here. Harmony is able to pack so much into it that I would probably be able to write a twenty-page thesis paper on the damn thing. But, the thing is, that is exactly what makes the film so alluring. Even though so much expository information is constantly being thrown at you, the pacing of the film is somehow able to take that and wind it down, never moving too fast for the audience to comprehend. The exposition (Which is extremely prevalent in a series of flashbacks and monologues that slowly zoom in on Tuan’s face) goes on to take up the vast majority of the film. There is not one point in Harmony where you stop learning about the characters or the world they live in. It’s a sort of snowball effect. Initially, all of the background information is simply just character-detailing of Miach and how she was the sole, beautiful mind in a sea of robotized humans. Miach becomes a sort of a philosopher and figurehead for revolution to Tuan and Cian. Each and every flashback illustrates this almost flawlessly.

There is not a single moment of joy in Harmony. Each and every scene is packed to the brim with an encroaching darkness that consumes the tone of the film and directly opposes the idea of the displayed “Utopia”. This new world, which is supposed to be the complete vision of perfection, never seems even relatively close to that.

On a thematic level, Harmony surpasses almost everything else I’ve seen. This is one of the most philosophic movies of the last several decades. Flashback after flashback — Harmony literally bombards you with ideas that make you question the progression of society, science, the human subconscious, sexuality, and everything else from every side of every spectrum. In fact, Harmony makes you question so much that even the idea of happiness becomes clouded. Halfway through, I found myself asking, “What does it even mean to actually be happy?” Almost all of this stems from the mind of Miach, who goes on to be a tragic symbol of diminishing free-will in a world that has forgotten what it means to be alive.

Another interesting thing about harmony is that even though the story is one of the most descriptive, developed ones in animated film, it remains entirely composed and organized the whole time. The plot moves in a straight line and never even thinks about deviating from its path. The EVEN MORE interesting part is how the art of the film directly contradicts the linearity of the story and moves in an unpredictable, sporadic pattern. Bouncing back and forth between 2D and 3D, Harmony’s spontaneity keeps our minds active and focused on how truly twisted the world we’re seeing is. It’s less of a visual experience and more of an aid to storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, the animation is absolutely stunning, but that isn’t what’s important. We’re supposed to be questioning reality in this film. The art just serves as another means of making us do that.

While the visuals remain enchanting, the true allure of Harmony lies in the relationship between Tuan and Miach. Starting off as just friends to the viewer, it quickly becomes apparent that the two are so much more than that. And that isn’t me just saying, “Oh, they’re totally in love and stuff too” It’s me saying that these two characters only exist because of one another. For Tuan, Miach is the rock that keeps her grounded and questioning the world around her. She is a symbol of freedom and beauty that can’t be paralleled by anything else. For Miach, Tuan is a sort of “saving grace” in a world that has forsaken her. She is the first person to listen to her innermost thoughts and actually understand them. The two work off of each other to the point where, without their connection, there wouldn’t be any movie in the first place. The great thing is, this is all enforced through phenomenal chemistry between Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi (Yes, I watched the dub. Bite me.)

I’m going to be frank here — this is the best performance of Monica Rial’s career. And considering she’s been in a good six million different shows by now, that’s saying a lot. To put it in Hollywood terms, this would be her Oscar role. I’ve loved Rial as an actress for a long time, but her performance as Miach literally brought the character to life. Miach felt real. She wasn’t just some cute, overly-intellectual girl dancing across the screen anymore — she was human. Rial wasn’t the only one showing off her acting chops, though. Both Marchi and Brittney Karbowski got a chance to shine in this as well. I haven’t [yet] heard the Japanese-dubbed version of this film, but Jamie Marchi fit the image of Tuan perfectly. I honestly couldn’t imagine the character being voiced by anyone else after having watched the film. Karbowski, on the other hand…well I just have a crush on her so I’m going to rave about her performance no matter what she does. No, but really, Cian’s voice was spot-on as well. Her suicide scene contained some of the most immersive, jaw-dropping acting I’ve heard in quite a while. That being said, all three main actors combined to form a cast that was nothing short of phenomenal. I have to give props to Christopher Bevins as well for his excellent ADR direction of the film. Bevins was really able to bring out the best of each actress.

Harmony isn’t like other animated movies. It’s sporadic, terrifying, and filled with a burning sense of dread. At the same time, though, it’s thought-provoking, meticulous, and important. There is just so much that can be taken from this film. It’s a textbook example of Shakespeare’s image of tragedy. Miach and Tuan’s relationship is one of the most endearing ones I have ever encountered. The only thing that could distract viewers from the near perfection of Harmony is the film’s tendency to become overly-wordy at parts. But even that can be overlooked when you take into account just how much of an impact the film makes as a whole.

In Summary:
Immensely philosophical and beautifully animated, Harmony dives into a plethora of societal themes that deeply parallel and satirize every day human life. Focusing just as much on setting the stage of its thought-provoking utopia as exploring the story of a young girl’s twisted image of the world, Harmony raises many questions on the ideas of free will, morality, and much more. The film’s pitch darkness is laced with a silence that goes on to create a truly unsettling, yet overall astonishing experience backed by powerful acting from Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi.

You've been to Walmart before right? Well, you know how they have cheaper versions of products that you've grown used to -- and how those products never particularly live up to the hype of whatever thing they're supposed to be replacing? Yeah, well Brynhildr In The Darkness is basically that, but turned into a 13 episode anime. Now, I just want to note that discounted versions of reliable products aren't always necessarily "bad," but that at some point, you just have to bite the bullet and be like, "Man, I wish I bought the brand name one instead."

Brynhildr is the latest animated series from Lynn ... Okamoto, the original creator of the masterpiece that we have come to know as Elfen Lied. And while Elfen Lied may have explored many different themes and ideas that were, at the time, not very common to the anime community, this new series embarks on a new exploration of the same things and tries to make it look like it's discovering them all for the first time. Basically, Brynhildr In The Darkness is the Christopher Columbus of anime. Columbus showed up in America one day and was all like, "I am the first person to find this!" while all of the Native Americans who were already over there were just like, "Dude, what about us?" and then he killed them all. This is the same thing.

Brynhildr focuses mainly on the life of Ryouta Murakami, a seemingly average dude with an above average intellect. After watching his best friend from childhood plunge to her death while they were trying to walk across a huge pipe thing (Or something), Murakami dedicates his life to astronomy because...well...that's what his dead friend liked and stuff. So one day, several years in the future, a girl looking exactly like her (Kuroneko) escapes from some lab thing and is ultimately discovered by Murakami, who is then like, "Yo I thought you were dead," only to be greeted by, "Wtf are you talking about? I'm a witch lol". So obviously the correct thing to do in this situation would be to run away from this creature with ridiculously abnormal telepathic power. But, instead, Murakami helps her assimilate with the average high school kids because that's totally not dangerous at all.

As time goes by, we discover that Kuroneko and the rest of the witches must take some pill to suppress their power from leaking out and demolishing them. Obviously, though, this pill isn't sold behind counters and must be acquired directly from the lab the witches are from. Considering at this point in time our home team consists only of Murakami, Kuroneko, and the quadriplegic best-girl (Kana), more help must be recruited. You know what this group needs? A Tsundere. So they go find one (Kazumi) and apparently she is a super-hacker that helps Kuro and Murakami break into the lab and get some life-pills. All is fine and well until the dude who I guess owns the lab is like, "Shit, we should get those witches back" and starts sending better witches after them. So then some more stuff happens and Kuroneko gets cut in half. But that's cool because the witch they were fighting against has the power to rewind time and of course she ultimately winds up doing so because the main girl can't die before the halfway point of the series.

After escaping from the evil laboratory for the second time, Kuroneko and Murakami realize they're in some deep shit. More witches keep being sent out to find them, each one stronger than the next. So the rest of the series is a bunch of rinse-repeat as the astronomy club repels their murderous attackers while slowly gaining more good witches to join their club. Eventually, the main evil guy from the lab is like, "Know what? I'm just gonna unleash the super bad witch to track them all down." The super bad witch winds up being really mean and puts a serious damper on things when she [kind of] kills one of the good witches. Kuroneko gets really mad at this because she is also a good witch and then decides it's time to unleash her ultimate power and kill the evil super bad witch lady (Who is also her sister. Surprise!). Then yay, everything goes back to normal. Or does it?...

If you couldn't tell by now, Brynhildr in the darkness is basically a slightly-tweaked retelling of Elfen Lied with more girls and fanservice thrown in. In fact, almost every single thing that happens in Elfen Lied also happens in this series. Here, I'll break a few down with this cool timeline.

Elfen Lied: Lucy escapes from the isolated evil lab and is taken in by the good guy.
Brynhildr: Kuroneko and Kana escape from the isolated evil lab and are taken in by the good guy.

Elfen Lied: Evil lab dude sends out Nana and Bandou to track down Lucy.
Brynhildr: Evil lab dude sends out like five different witches to track down Kuro.

Elfen Lied: We discover that the lab is genetically modifying cute girls to create superweapons.
Brynhildr: We discover that the lab is genetically modifying AND CLONING cute girls to create superweapons.

Elfen Lied: Woah, Lucy is actually Kouta's childhood friend!
Brynhildr: Woah, Kuro is actually Ryouta's childhood friend!

Elfen Lied: Lucy prevails and Nana now has no limbs.
Brynhildr: Kana's limbs don't even work in the first place.

Elfen Lied: Evil lab man gets fed up and sends out Mariko (Who, for some reason, loves evil lab man).
Brynhildr: Evil lab man gets fed up and sends out Mako (Who, for some reason, loves evil lab man).

Elfen Lied: Mariko's powers aren't enough to kill the protagonist. Evil lab man shows soft side and dies with her on a bridge.
Brynhildr: Mako's powers aren't enough to kill the protagonist(s). Evil lab man shows soft side and dies with her on a balcony.

Okamoto couldn't even get creative with the names of the characters. Kouta/Ryouta are the protagonists. Mariko/Mako are the bad guys. Honestly, I think it might be possible that Okamoto was just trying to relive his glory days with this. After Elfen Lied came out, everyone saw him as this mastermind with a fantastic story to tell -- which, he was. Since that, though, nothing he did really took off the same way. It wasn't until he basically rewrote the story that he put into the spotlight again. And honestly, if he hadn't already created Elfen Lied, this would have been a lot better. The characters are actually extremely lovable and I was incredibly surprised by how much they grew on me. The fanservice is a little heavy in this series, but the comedy is actually the best part of the entire show. Some scenes literally showcased 10/10 humor and made the watching experience increase tenfold. I tore apart the series above, but it really wasn't THAT bad. There are still some elements that really make this a relatively enjoyable show. However, certain things like Okamato's new-found hatred toward permanently killing off his characters, I would definitely change.

All in all, this series was enough to make me want to read the manga, so I guess it worked it the end.

In Summary:
Just watch Elfen Lied instead.

THIS IS A "TEN YEARS LATER" REVIEW to commemorate the anniversary of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni.

You know how they call marijuana a gateway drug or whatever? Well, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (Which also goes by the title "When They Cry") is considered by many to be a sort of gateway anime. Now, when I was 14 years old, I was one twisted individual. Hell, I still am to some degree. But what basically happened is back when I was first getting into anime, I started looking up different "Effed up" shows. Obviously, I was intrigued by the idea of a whole bunch of ... teenage schoolgirls being brutally slaughtered by a seemingly unavoidable curse that plagued their city. Oh, and for those of you who haven't watched Higurashi yet, you read that correctly. This show can be absolutely horrifying in terms of sheer brutality. But that's what made/makes it so great.

Based on the dojin-soft game/visual novel of the same title created by 7th Expansion, Higurashi reached critical acclaim early on in its life. Starting with its birth in 2002, the series built a quick name for itself and began pumping out chapter after chapter. These chapters, which were released in an episodic style, built upon mysteries from previous ones while adding their own unique mysteries to the mixture, culminating in a story that grew incredibly convoluted and deep. But in a good way. Personally, I still haven't gotten around to playing the games. In fact, I had a vendetta against them for a very long time due to the..."unique" art style. I'll leave it at that. BUT, apparently an art patch was made for the game, so now I am literally obligated to play it because I have no reason not to anymore.

Higurashi follows a strange formula, being set up into several small arcs with extremely different stories that wind up playing off each other to a certain degree. The first arc opens up on a scene of the show's protagonist, Keiichi Maebara, hideously beating two girls to a bloody pulp before abruptly cutting back to just days beforehand. From that point on, this arc becomes nothing more than the unfolding of events designated to build up to and uncover that very first scene. The two girls, Mion Sonozaki and Rena Ryuugu, actually wind up being friends of Keiichi's simply just trying to get him to feel at home in his new town -- Hinamizawa. However, Keiichi's growing skepticism winds up playing a huge part in how the next events unfold.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and break down each and every arc for you guys. This isn't a review, so I'm not going to treat it as one. But what I will do is state that this series holds up. I mean, the art isn't anything to fawn over. In fact, the artwork wasn't ever that great to begin with. But the story and the characters will always be more than enough to bring you crawling back. I remember when the first arc ended and the next one began, I thought it was a dream of some sort. I went into this series blind -- I had no idea that I'd be seeing all these different arcs with disconnected story lines. SPOILER ALERT: But then they connected. In one of the last episodes of the first season, when Keiichi breaks down and somehow remembers these different timelines in which horrific events occurred, my jaw literally fell off. It hasn't been the same since. This one moment where everything that was unwound recollected itself and everything came together, it was something I had never experienced in terms of storytelling before. The series went straight from murder mystery to intense psychological journey with impactful themes of regret, friendship, and loss. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this scene was one of the most pivotal ones in anime history as far as I'm concerned.

There are a plethora of genres that can be easily tied to this show, with the most common ones being horror, psychological, and drama. But one of the important things to note going into this show would have to be the intense tonal shifts that literally turn it upside down in just moments. Higurashi is impressive in the fact that it can be a lighthearted slice of life series that can spiral into a horrific tale of murder in less than one episode. These quick burns and rapid transitions from dark to light highlight human nature to a certain extent. Things always start out bright, but ideas like doubt and overall uncertainty can turn normal events into traumatic ones almost instantaneously. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a paranormal force in this series, but a lot of the problems in the arcs are also brought on by human nature itself. It's actually rather interesting trying to determine why things played out the way they did.

One thing that Higurashi receives a lot of heat for is the English dub of the series. Which kind of makes sense considering voices of characters like Rena and Rika were very often...annoying. But, I mean, we're talking about ten years ago when English dubbed anime wasn't even close to the level it's at today. Basically, production quality in the ADR department was pretty darn lackluster when compared to its Japanese source material. That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't a special place in my heart for the English dub. Back when I first watched this series, I watched it in English. (Dude I was like 14, give me a break. I didn't even want to read in school). I've watched it in Japanese countless times since then, but what I'm saying is that I'm not against watching the dub again. Hell, I'd watch this series on mute. It's just THAT good.

Since Higurashi's first airing in 2005, the name has exploded. In fact, there was a remastered release of the series from Sentai Filmworks just last month. Apart from that, the show added on a second season (Higurashi Kai), and another semi-season where Rika had a weird ghost friend that lived in her brain (Higurashi Rei). Hell, there was even a spinoff where, according to Myanimelist, *clears throat* "Rika and Satoko become magical girls to battle evil magic crime syndicates with the help of their trusty squad of cheerleaders, among other things". Dude, what? How did this happen?

Needless to say, Higurashi has gone on to obtain one of the largest cult followings in the anime community. It is a name that will always be accompanied by scattered cheers whenever it is brought up in a crowded room or a panel at a convention. Even after all these years (Ew, saying that makes me feel old), it holds up extremely well. The brutality is still terrifying, the characters are still lovable, and Shion's weird faces are still incredibly unnerving. This series is one of the most rewatchable ones out there, and, if you haven't seen it yet, I highly implore you to do so. Like, really. Right now.

To this day, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is an essential watch for all anime fans.

Following the widespread success of the original Love, Chunibyou, And Other Delusions (Which I am just going to refer to as Chunibyou/Season one because who has the time to keep typing out that title?), Heartthrob/Ren seemed like an adaptation that would be impossible to avoid. Based on the 2011 light novel series by Torako with art from Nozomi Ousaka, Chunibyou caters to any fan of the slice of life or comedy genre through quick-witted dialogue and a lovable character roster. Being picked up by Kyoto Animation definitely aided it's relevance, and the series has now become a bombshell among the anime community in both Japan ... and America.

Heartthrob picks up right where season one left off -- with Yuuta and Rikka slowly trying to move their relationship forward. The issue is that Rikka is still extremely shy and has problems even holding his hand. But now, due to unforeseen circumstances, the couple has to move in together as Rikka's sister is moving away. Now, there are certain issues that would typically arise from this situation that we're just going to overlook because it's Yuuta and Rikka we're talking about. You'll understand if you watched the first season. Regardless, this is a slight hurdle for the two of them but essentially allows them to move closer together on an emotional (And physical *wink*) basis. Or at least it should...

Out of nowhere, Yuuta's childhood friend, Satone Shichimiya, waltzes back into his life. Girlfriends don't typically like when other girls do that sort of thing and Rikka is no exception to that rule. What makes it even worse is that Satone is the girl that Yuuta owes his chunibyou to in the first place. Needless to say, Shichimiya (Who is also stuck in chunibyou limbo) becomes not only a rival in love for Rikka, but a rival in the dark realm as well. So now we have sort of two different conflicts: Rikka vs. Satone/Wielder of the Wicked Eye vs. Sophia Ring. The great thing about these conflicts is that they essentially wind up fusing together as the two girls come to terms with themselves and the way they feel. It's like a battle between good and good as opposed to good and evil. Just instead of camouflage, both sides are wearing hair ties and mini-skirts (Which is totally better, in my opinion).

Now, the great thing about this show is the steady build-up of each girl's feelings. Satone, even though she is sort of an antagonist in a way, is just as likable as Rikka. There really is no bad guy as far as this sequel goes, and that just makes the conflict more...conflicting. It's up to the viewer to decide how they want the love triangle to shift. And as I said, it just builds and builds until the two girls can no longer contain their feelings and erupt in emotional supernovas most likely visible from planets we haven't even heard of. If there is anything that Heartthrob excels in when compared to its prequel, it's the strong coming-of-age theme for nearly everyone involved -- but more specifically Satone and Rikka.

There are some things that suffer in this sequel, however. Considering the majority of the characters in the Chunibyou universe have already been established and introduced to us prior to Heartthrob, there is a noticeable lack of character development present throughout this series. Now, I understand why some people will defend that and say that it isn't really necessary for character progression to carry over, but I'm going to disagree. There are plenty of sequels out there where the main characters continue to change throughout multiple courses, why should this go against that? Rikka and Yuuta are essentially the same people they were in season one all throughout Heartthrob. Even when the conflict is resolved there isn't much change apart from Rikka trying slightly harder to come to terms with her feelings. And I mean slightly. Like, so slightly that the ultimate unraveling of her inner struggle is kissing her damn boyfriend on the cheek. As for Yuuta...yeah he's still exactly the same person he was in season one.

With this lack of development in established characters, however, comes one phenomenal use of character development in that of Satone Shichimiya. Even though Rikka obviously has more camera time in Heartthrob, I'd go as far as saying that Satone is the true focal point of this series. She is the sole character whose struggle is relatable and realistic. The final arc places her in a situation that viewers dread for the entire series and it's absolutely heartbreaking. But the tough part is you can't even get upset about it because realistically, we all know that Yuuta and Rikka are the couple that actually belong together. This scenario -- the whole love triangle ultimatum thing -- is something that happens to many people throughout middle school and high school. I know I made various connections to my personal life throughout this sequel. If anything, Chuunibyou Heartthrob does a great job exemplifying that and just that.

In Summary:
Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions! Heartthrob is not as enjoyable as its prequel, but it is more emotionally stirring and relatable. The comedy is bright and quirky, the characters are exquisitely memorable, and the addition of Satone Shichimiya is a much-needed wake up call for the Chunibyou series. Though character development in pre-existing characters has been tossed on the backburner, there are still plenty of moments in Heartthrob that fans of season one would be delighted to see. I'd mark both this and the prequel down as essential viewing material for all slice-of-life fans, both new and old.