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When I started to watch Haikyuu!! I never thought I would enjoy it to that extent as I actually did. I've always liked volleyball the most out of all the sports revolving around teamwork; so basically, I expected Haikyuu!! to be a rather nice shounen sports anime with a lot of bromance. It turned out to be one, but it exceeded my expectations.
The story of Haikyuu!! is pretty simple: two old rivals, Hinata and Kageyama, happen to attend to the same school and join the same volleyball club after encountering each other in middleschool in a volleyball match. The rather untalented Hinata, ... still having the wish to beat his rival in a match, and Kageyama, an incredible gifted player, do not get a long very well in the beginning. However, it turns out they complete each other extremely well, so they'll have to work out as a duo to add to their team.
The story focuses, of course, on these two characters, as well as on the Karasuno volleyball club, which has been rather unlucky and didn't win a lot of their latest matches. So, now with our over powered duo, they'll win every match right? Wrong, and that is something I think you should give this anime credit for: it's not as predictable as other sports anime, they do not win every match just because they have Hinata and Kageyama now; they'll always have to find a way to beat their formidable opponents, and it's never easy and not based on using sole will power. As the story continues, they get better, so they decide to enter a tournament, which they of course want to win.
The story itself isn't the main focus on Haikyuu!!, as you can see by the fact it isn't very unique, even among sport animes. It rather focuses on the interactions and relationships between characters, and it does that amazingly well. The matches are incredibly fun to watch, I even found myself cheering for both teams, and it manages to create a very intense atmosphere. While the story itself wouldn't be too engaging on it's own, Haikyuu!! manages to suck you in with a lot of full-scale volleyball action and great characters. The downside is, as unpredictable the matches can be, you still get very easily what they are going for; it's training – tournament – wanting to win – facing old enemies and all that kinda stuff. It doesn't make it bad, you just wish they might have tried something more creative here. There is also a lot of inner monologue and pep talk, which is extremely cheesy from time to time, but it's not terrible or anything.
As I already mentioned, the characters in Haikyuu!! are great. Everyone is pretty unique in their own way, and they're all extremely fun to watch on screen. The two main characters, Hinata and Kageyama, couldn't be any more different from another, so it's really entertaining to watch them get along. Both do show typical traits of shounen protagonists, however, they're still portrayed in a realistic way, so you won't mind it that much. The supporting characters are great as well. As already mentioned, everyone is unique, and their relationship with one another is very well established. I might say they all fit in some kind of stereotype, like the hot-headed guy or the always positive guy, but the show manages to show different traits of the characters. The „antagonists“, meaning the players of the opposing teams, are all just as great as the one from Karasuno. Everyone is very cool, has their own traits and is pretty likeable. While they're reduced to one character trait for most of the time, it's still played off really believable.
Sometimes I wished however, they would give certain characters a bit more focus, not just one introduction episode. It's not like they're left forgotten afterward, but I always wanted to see some more of them. Another thing that really annoyed me, while it might be a nitpick, is the reaction you always get to see from the opposing players or watchers when Hinata and Kageyama do their quick attack. I get it, it's awesome. It's just the fact it always takes so long until the match continues and I'm in general not a fan when a show tries that hard to tell you something is awesome. But as I said, probably just a nitpick, it doesn't ruin anything for me.
I have to say, I can't say much about the animation itself, except for that it's incredibly good. It's really fast, smooth and fluent, it really makes the show very pleasing to watch. The volleyball action comes across amazing, and that's what counts great time for a sports anime. The art-style is also very good, the characters do look pretty realistic while still showing some unique features.
The music however, I have to say, wasn't that outstanding. Frankly, I don't even remember one really god track in the OST. I'm sure they added to the mood, but they didn't do that much on their own. The OP and ED are all nice to listen to and are pretty catchy tunes, but also not something that memorable. The voice acting was always on point though, the actors really brought up the feeling they are in a real match. It's not something I always comment on, but the sound effects in Haikyuu!! are extremly good as well, they do make everything feel more real, might it just be the volleyball hitting the ground.
As mentioned above, Haikyuu!! was really enjoyable. The matches and the characters are just so good, I really couldn't stop watching after one episode. It gets pretty cheesy from time to time, but it never felt like it was too much and would ruin anything. The comedy is also good, especially Hinata and Kageyama get into some funny situations.
Overall, Haikyuu!! is a great anime. It has some flaws, but they're not as bad as the good stuff is good. If you're looking for some easy-to-watch sports anime, with great characters and a lot of amazingly animated matches, go for that one.

[Re-Upload: original Upload: November 14th 2014]

To be honest, I almost dropped that show after the first episode. Why? I guess most of you who at least watched the first episode, or maybe have seen a trailer or two will know why: The animation. A lot of people will say now that „art and animation aren't everything that make a good show“, and sure you're absolutely right. Actually, I think so too. However, at first glance the animation as well as art of Nobunaga Concerto were a valid reason for me to almost drop it, since I didn't think I could stand it for 10 episodes. ... Well, I'm glad I didn't, since this turned out to be a freaking amazing show. To cut a long story short, here is my review.

Story: The story focuses, who would've guessed it, on good old Oda Nobunaga. However, it's not the usual Sengoku Period story line: This story isn't about the real Nobunaga, but a time travelling high school student named Saburou, who just happens to look like the real Nobunaga. The actual Nobunaga is a sickly young man whoi doesn't think he can be of any use to his family, so he asks Saburou to take his place. Finding himself in the time of the warring states trying to conquer Japan, Saburo has to face quite a few obstacles of becoming a real commander. 
At first, I thought the story is going to be kinda weird, especially in it's execution. You know, time travel stories tend to be rather comical or they focus way too much on explaining things no one really cares about. And well, at first, I found it a bit hard to believe and even a bit lame. Saburou doesn't seem to have any problems with being in a time period way different from his own. It seemed really unauthentic. But that changed from episode 4 onwards. The story really manages to suck you in and keeps your attention, notably with Saburou's decisions and actions no one really foresees. Also, historical events are depicted believable. It's really enjoyable to see Saburo's interaction with the other characters, especially due to the fact that he doesn't really tries to fit into the time period, like offering the other characters some instant noodles. This isn't just a funny and entertaining story, but a dramatical one as well. It's a very solid mix of these both elements, and thus the show is offering some very good entertainment. 

Art/Animation: As mentioned above, the animation, and to some extent the art-style were my biggest problems, especially in the first episodes. Don't get me wrong: the character design and backgrounds, as well as colour design were amazing and pleasing to look at. The problem was that the art itself didn't really fit together with the animations. It's difficult to say, but the animations were somehow fluid, but stiff as well. Especially the characters expressions always looked the same, there were just minor differences when they changed their facial expression. So it was really hard to depict emotions, since none of them looked believable in any way. I must say though, that it got better towards the end. I'm not sure if it was because it really got better or if I just got used to it. It is a very unique style however, which really makes it stand out. 

Sound: The soundtrack is really good. You have one main theme which you will hear quite often, but it almost fits to any mood. Other tracks are also present of course, and as well as the main theme, they really make the atmosphere. It does not have a real opening, but an amazing ending theme song (not only by sound, but also by visuals). The voice acting really managed to make up for the lack of facial expression. Especially Saburou/Nobunaga was just amazing. I really liked the other performances as well. 

Character: The characters were all designed amazingly well. Everyone had their own unique style and their motives and actions were convincing, so nothing really felt out of place. Sometimes I thought there was some development missing, like there could have been more screen time for some characters, but still, they were all pretty likeable. Their character traits also fit in very well with the time period, so none of them felt misplaced (you might say Saburou did, but well, he's from another time, so). The interactions between them were very entertaining to watch as well. 

Enjoyment: After I just accepted the art-style and clunky animations, I really, really enjoyed this show. Even though it doesn't depict every historical event 100% correctly (which is something I'd never expect from any show to begin with), it still gives a very good overview on certain events revolving Nobunaga in the Sengoku Era. It's very entertaining to watch Saburou/Nobunaga conquer Japan with his cluelessness. If you like historical animes that don't include demons, lasers or whatever you should definitely watch this. 

Overall: Nobunaga Concerto was really one of the biggest surprises to me this year. It's a very charming show, which only flaws are it's art-style and animation, and maybe the fact it only has 10 episodes. I really, really enjoyed this show, and I guess you will too if you're into historical anime that deal with Japanese history in a rather believable matter. If you're having too much of a problem with the art, try not to think of it too much. As I said, you won't mind it after a few episodes. All in all, Nobunaga Concerto is a very descent show, with a well executed story and believable characters, that sadly gets overlooked way too often because of it's rather unique combination of art and animation.

[Re-Upload: original Upload: January 6th 2015]

Sometimes, when you're looking for some nice manga you can read in a short time, as a sort of breath of fresh air from all the 20+ volume long manga series you already started, you stumble across those which seem to have a very weird storyline at first. One of those, at least to me, was Utahime by Aki. When I read the synopsis of the overall story, my first reaction was something like "this fits into one volume?". To me, the story seemed rather complex, with a lot of explaining and backstory, so how do you fit this into ... only one volume? Interested enough, I gave this manga a try. So, here are my thoughts. 

Story: As said above, reading the synopsis made me feal a bit uneasy about the story. It felt like this would need so much explaining without dealing with the actual story of the manga, so just exposition. I thought this is gonna be one of those stories that leave you without an actual ending, which I really dislike. However, I was pretty wrong. It does feel a bit confusing at first, I gotta admit that. There is really some explaining and a lot is happening, but the story manages to keep track because it does not implement too many characters, so it's easy to recognize them all. The first chapter is more an introduction to the overall story; but it manages to gain the interest of the reader, because of it's, let's say, creative setting. A female king, when there should only be male ones and a male songstress when, you guessed it, there should only be females. Allright, that's a setup that promises to be interesting. However, instead of getting more into the story where we are at this point, we get flung back in time. Just to say, this is part of the manga covers most of the actual story, and it's definitely the best part. In the next chapters we get to see more of the backstory of our protagonists Kain, the male songstress, his sister Maria, the supposed actual songstress and their friend Thomas. In my opinion, this part is the strongest part of the story. You get a good overview over the setting of the story, like, you get to know about the backstory of the songstresses and their vilages. Also, the relationship between the main characters is pretty well established. You get to follow the story quite easily, as it's not that confusing as I first thought it would be (because the focus lies more on the characters than the setting). Even though there is no real tension, since you pretty much know what is gonna happen, but the events leading to it are very well established. It's not exciting, but interesting. We also get to know two other characters who get some things to move, however, they don't feel misplaced but do play their own important role in the story. At the end, we are back where we started and are awarded with, in my opinion, a very satisfying ending. I can't really say the story moved me or anything, but at least it didn't leave me unaffected. I really liked the story overall, it is really a breath of fresh air and something unique among your regular manga, that's for sure. It does miss a climax structure though, but I guess it did not really want to have one to begin with. There should have been a bit more tension though, because that was something that was really missing. It's a very good story with some little flaws, i.e. lack of exciting moments. Furthermore, it's neither a dark nor happy story, more like kinda inbetween. You have some funny moments, but in general, the leading atmosphere is a rather serious one (not too serious though, it's still a fantasy-shoujo-drama). If you're looking for a rounded, one volume long manga with a rather unusual story, go for that one. 

Art: Oh yes, here comes the part in a review I don't like that much; discussing the art-style. Don't get me wrong - art is one of the most important things in manga, it's just very hard to discuss in my opinion. So here goes: At first, the art is good. Good. Nothing more, nothing less. Why? I adore Aki's art-style. She manages to draw "pretty" boys that do still look like males. That's not something everyone can do. As I said, I love her character designs as well, especially in Utahime. It does have some kind of fantasy middle ages style, but remains a slight modern touch, which is very neat to look at. Her character designs and overall drawing of characters are a big plus for this manga. However; sometimes the drawings don't look to clean, they seem rushed and thus a bit off. Even if it's just something very small, you see it. Also, the proportions are a bit off as well. The main reason why I think you can see those even small errors so clearly is the lack of backgrounds in this work. There are literally none. Well, yeah, sometimes there's tree but.. That's it. I do see why you can argue and say that the characters are supposed to be the focus, and yes, that is indeed true. It's just a shame that with some amazing backgrounds she could've made those other drawing errors almost unseen. I'm not expecting a breathtaking landscape in every panel, but maybe at least some background. The few that are present are fine if they just would've been in more panels. To cut a long story short: Character design and overall way of drawing characters is amazing, but drawing-errors and lack of background turn this down, sadly. It's still a very good-looking art Utahime has to offer, and I guess we can look over those small details that are off. It's still very pleasing to look at. Another positive thing to add that her way of drawing emotions is also rather nicely done. 

Character: In my opinion, the best part of the manga. I, personally, really liked the characters. I don't want to talk too much about, because you can see yourself how you like them while reading. We get a lot of insight on the characters thoughts, which makes you understand their problems. For me, I could really feel the struggle the three main characters had to go through, and because we got such much insight, it really had me wondering how I would react if I was in this situation. Through thoughts, the inner struggle is very well presented to the reader - more than to the other characters. It's kinda hard to say, but their problems felt real, even in that fictional world. I guess you can say the characters do fall in some kind of archetype classes, like Kain being the stubborn brother who just wants to protect his sister, but there is really much more to it. Their relationship between each other is established so well through backstory, you won't see the deepest bond of friendship though, but I haven't had the feeling this would've been necessary, it worked just fine the way it is. Even though I would've wished for more interaction instead of just the characters keeping their thoughts to themself, it was fine in the end. They were portrayed in a realistic way, you could see their motivation and they were sympathic. All in all, this story has three very good, interesting main characters, and also nice side characters. 

Enjoyment: What can I say, I really enjoyed this manga. There is a bit much to read on every page, a lot of thoughts and speaking, but it's interesting. I really enjoyed getting more to see on how the story and the characters progress, even with the lack of tension, it is, in my opinion, a very enjoyable journey. If you're into more thoughtful stories with likeable characters and interesting setting, this would be a good choice. 

Overall: Well, not much to say. It's a very good manga. Story is very well executed, interesting, thoughtful, the characters are likeable, you have a very pleasing art-style to look at and you can read it very fast. For everyone who is looking for a more serious fantasy-shoujo-drama, I'd say try Utahime.