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Dubbed: 10 (masterpiece)
Sub titled: 3 (trash fire)

This is one of the most infamous dubs in the history of anime. As the legend goes, when the company that released the dub was seeking the rights for new anime, the Japanese rights holder bundled this show with a bunch of other shows they actually wanted. When the Americans asked what they could do with it, they basically got cart Blanche to change whatever as the show bombed in Japan, except the few elements that were based on Japanese folk lore. And boy, did they go to town. This is the funniest and most irreverent dub ever, and ... nothing like this will ever be made professionally again. It is offensive and crude, and I love it. So if you like comedy, and aren’t easily offended, give this one a try. But it must be dubbed.

The straight version (ie subtitles) is boring and should never be watched by anyone.

I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed watching season 1. It wasn’t great by any stretch, but it was fun. This second season is just AWFUL.

Why, you ask? It’s hard to put a finger because so much was just completely botched with this season. The guy arrives at the school where all his classmates are and it still takes like 5 episodes for anyone to realize it or for him to speak to any of them. The whole toilet gag during the area episode was just too much and too little at the same time. Most of the jokes were not funny. ...

The staff of this show either completely phoned it in or they just completely misunderstood the aspects of the series that made it barely likable to some and went overboard on the things that made people wanna tune out or vomit. As far as I am concerned, there was no second season.

TLDR: started with a premise full of potential, ended with a whimper.

I really tried with this one. I did. By the last 3 episodes I was just waiting for it to be over. The writing was terrible. I watched the dub so depending on how the dialogue was adapted the sub experience may be different, but I doubt it will make it a much better show. If you are considering watching this anime, give it the 3 episode test and if you are unsure about proceeding, stop there. It will not get better, only worse.

The show has possible art and animation. Do not expect ... the sound to be much better, though it was also barely adequate. The dub was pretty good, I felt like most of the voices matched the characters, though I felt some were phoning it in a few times here and there.

OVERALL - 8/10

If you are new to anime, have been living under a rock for a few years, or just awoke from cryogenic slumber, you may not have heard about The Irregular at Magic High School. If you have heard of it, but haven't watched it yet, I don't know what you are waiting for. There are many reasons why you should watch this anime, and I will go through some of my favorite reasons why you need to watch:

1. Packed to the brim with Onii-sama - This anime has more "Onii-sama" than any other series, and most of them combined. Research done while bored ... has proven there to be 172 seperate utterances of "Onii-sama" packed into 26 episodes. Thats over 6.5 "Onii-sama" per 24 minute serving!

2. The most ridiculously OP MC in history - Yes that's right, Tatsuya is the bastard love child between Saitama (One Punch Man) and Hermoine Granger (Harry Potter). He can do anything when it comes to the magic system used in the story. While I am sometimes bothered by overpowered protagonists, because he is so far over the top I found it more entertaining than grating or annoying.\

3. Its Madhouse - Madhouse is not known for producing poorly animated shows, so its no surprise that The Irregular at Magic High School is a beautifully drawn and animated show.

TL;DR - In short, come for the "onii-sama" but stay for the animation. This may not be the most innovative or unique story out there, but for what it is (AKA Magic School Battle story) it is a type specimen and a ruler to judge other Magic school batlle anime against.

SCORE: 5/10

I gave this anime a shot because the synopsis seemed like it would be right up my alley. However, even as I write this review I have no idea what I watched, or why I continued watching it all the way through. So what makes this anime so hard to understand?

1. MC - The male Main Character is weird through and through. In fact, he is stark naked for most of the series. Why did he remove his clothes? Why did he not put them back on for most of the season? These are questions that are beyond me.

2. Side Characters - Most of ... them are ridiculous, and some of them in a funny and entertaining way. There's a guy who has his eyes on this baseball hat, a slime, and a Indian who fights using curry. Best part of the show by far was when these silly side characters got screen time.

3. World Building - The various countries (political units would be better term I guess) seem to be engaged in trying to reproduce events from Earths history, and will go to great lengths to make things happen in the series exactly as things happened in the historical records. Why do they do this? I never caught that explanation if it was revealed, and I tried to keep on watching hoping it will all make sense in the end. I did not make sense in the end.

4. Story - You know how some anime take so long to reveal what the actual story is about and then basically not deliver on any of the really cool ideas that the story seems to be leading to? Thats what we have here. The main story is about recovering parts of Horizons (main female lead) emotions which were removed from her to help make a bunch of OP weapons by recovering those weapons and giving them to Horizon. I have forgotten why they are doing this, but it does not matter because the anime never comes close to depicting the characters gathering enough weapons/emotions to to even bother caring what the end goal is.

The anime is the equivalent of building 1/2 of a bridge. It doesn't matter how big it is or where you put it, it will never lead you anywhere you want to go, and when you do a u-turn and return to the shore you wonder why you even tried crossing half a bridge in the first place. And if you think the second cour/season will be the other half, think again. It doesn't go anywhere.

TL;DR: This anime is a disappointment, and worse its one which seems to have promise so that at all the points you should give up and drop it it almost begs you to keep watching. I warn you to stay away from this anime, and the second season is more of a let down than this one is.

I must admit that I had thought about watching Ben-to a few times but was not fully convinced by the description that it would be worth my time. Lets face it, there are so many anime series you can watch, so why watch one that doesn't grab you with the description? Well, I finally was at a point where 'i felt like giving Ben-to a chance and I am glad I took the time to watch it.

Overall: 7/10

Story: 7 - Ben-to features a plot that is pretty unique. Its about the brave students that gather at the supermarket late at night when the store discounts ... their Ben-to box meals 50% off, and the battles they have to determine who will walk away with delicious half priced bento and who will have to settle for cup noodles and instant ramen. The dramatic battles that unfold in these markets are epic, and some of the best competitors becomes legends whose names strike fear in the hearts of others seeking the prize. Its sort of like Highlander, only with bento boxes.

Art: 7 - Its nothing too strong, but for the most part the animation is fluid and the characters stay on design. Backgrounds are pretty damn average, but nothing in the art is bad in any way.

Sound: 6 - Sound is definitely used to help heighten the drama around the mad grab for the bento's, but is really nothing special.

Character: 7 - Some of the names that the fighters (called wolves in the series) earn are pretty funny. There's the Ice Queen, Beauty of the Lake, Club of Heracles, Pervert, Monk, and the Half Price Gods who add the 50% off labels prior to battles commencing.

Enjoyment: 7 - That's why you should give this a go, because it is definitely enjoyable to watch. I would suggest streaming rather than buying the series, as I feel it will have minimal rewatch value. While I wouldn't want to rewatch this series, I enjoyed the time spent watching it and have no regrets.


TL;DR - Watch bento for an enjoyable experience and a unique story line.

When it comes to CGDCT(Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) anime Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? stands a hare above the rest!

Seriously, this anime was fun to watch and perfect for relaxing, turn your brain off entertainment. Its the perect thing to watch after a bad day, or to put on and watch as falling asleep.

There really is no plot. The anime follows the staff at Rabbit House, a family owned coffee house, and two competing coffee houses where side characters work.

Overall 8/10
Kawaii Power Level: Over 9000!!!!

Story: 8 - While there is no real plot, the stories that unfold in each episode really work ... the way they are inteded, which is functioning as an excuse to watch the characters be cute.

Art: 9 - I really liked the art. So moe, and when you are watching a CGDCT anime moe is just what the doctor ordered.

Sound: 9 - The soundtrack works amazingly well in this anime. Playful, Youthful, and adds to the cutesy atmosphere that permeates this series.

Character: 8 - While not really delving deep into the stories of who the characters are, the characters are all very likable and kawaii, which is exactly what they should be. I loved Chino, and while they didn't really explain it, I really loved how her grandpa somehow had gotten his soul stuck in the body of a Angora Rabbit.

Enjoyment: 9 - This was a very fun show and I enjoyed watching it. If you like Cute Girls doing Cute Things genre, or want to see if the genre is your cup of tea, then put Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? on your watch list ASAP.

So, the second cour of Asterisk is over and its time to reflect on what transpired. I liked the first cour, and had high hopes for the second. However, I am really disappointed in how the paced the second season.

Overall Score: 6/10

Story: 6 - The pacing was really off here. I know the! phoenix festa was a big deal and all, but counting from when it started last season I think it lasted for 13 episodes! If the plot revolved solely around this one tournament, this would not be so bad. But there are other main plot treads that get left by the wayside ... such as the following Gryps Festa that seems to be a bigger deal, and a BIG pain plot thread dealing with Ayato's past (and his powers). The writers seem to be betting on another season, and based on what sales figures I have seen of season 1, the sales will not merit sinking more money into this series to produce a 3rd season. I hate when this happens!

Art: 7 - Fights were well animated sometimes and at other times you could tell they were stretching their budget, but overall it was average, nothing to slam the series over.

Sound: 7 - It was good, nothing too impressive but nothing really bad either.

Character: 6 - No real growth of the characters established in season 1, and side characters, were one dimensional and sometimes annoying (Flora's voice just annoyed me). The villains are not very compelling either. The bad guys might as well have handlebar mustaches and twirl them while laughing menacingly.

Enjoyment: 6 - I enjoyed the ride a bit but the never ending Festa really got old fast. Then when you get to the 10th episode and realize that they won't be wrapping it up in a satisfactory way it just ruins the enjoyment of the rest.

If they had finished the Festa using only 4-5 episodes of this season and then had some setup for the Gryps and explored other main plot threads better it could have been a much more enjoyable series. Sadly, they either were expecting a season 3 or didn't care about making a good anime, and only cared about selling light novels in Japan.

I loved Samurai Flamenco! If you are a fan of the superhero genre, you should definitely watch this!

SamFlam starts off pretty much as a story about a kid who grew up and never lost his desire to become a super hero. Our MC starts off small, trying to stop petty crimes by petty crooks and juvenile delinquents, and things don't go as well as he hoped. It definitely tries to stay grounded in reality despite its superhero premise.

Then things go absolutely crazy as time goes on, where our superhero story becomes an insane, and insanely fun, over the top superhero adventure.

Story: 9 - The ... story is amazing, and just when you think you have it figured out it turns things up another notch. You cannot fathom where its going from watching the first 4-5 episodes.

Art: : 8 - Artwork is definitely better than average, animation is well drawn.

Sound: 8 - Sound is good, and totally fits with the visuals and story.

Character: 9 - Characters receive great development, especially the main cast. Side characters are all awesome, no one really feels superfluous.

Overall: 9/10 - I enjoyed this series a lot, and would highly recommend it to all anime fans, especially if you like the superhero genre.

This a great example of noir in anime. If you like film noir, or even more modern noir inspired movies like L.A. Confidential, then Crystal Blaze is definitely worth your time to check out. It was enjoyable, but I also found it almost lost my interest at several points in the series.

I enjoyed the story, but I think that it since it really only focused on one main overarching plot it burned a little to slow at times which may cause some to give up on this one and drop the show.

The art was nothing special, but did incorporate some of the defining noir ... style in places.

The music is where this anime shines. The soundtrack definitely helped the show to create the "noir detective story" vibe the show was clearly trying to achieve.

Characters were as well developed and unique as one would expect for a 12 episode series, though many side characters were one dimensional as expected.

I am a fan of film noir so I can definitely say I enjoyed it. However, even so, I would probably not watch this series again, and would recommend streaming rather than buying Crystal Blaze.

So overall, this ranks 7/10 for me. Worth watching (once), especially if you are a fan of noir detective films.