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STORY: A pretty original story, if I say so myself. Most sports anime that I've seen focus on a newbie that ends up being great at the sport they play - with little to no training beforehand, or at least no real training. This was a bit different in that the main character started training to play the game when he was a toddler. I can't say much more about the main guy's background without spoiling things. In short, Prince of Tennis about a kid named Echizen Ryoma who enrolls in Seishun Gakuen and joins the tennis club regulars to improve his tennis skills - ... and become more than just a carbon copy of his father. Seems simple, right? Wrong - if it were that simple, there'd be no need for almost 200 episodes. Prince of Tennis is about more than Echizen Ryoma working to become #1 - but I can't get into that without spoiling it.

ART: Pretty amazing, to be honest. I remember other anime from this time period, and their artwork wasn't nearly as good. Sure, there are some repeated frames - but that's almost impossible to avoid in lengthy anime. The character design was done especially well - and with such a large cast, good character design is a must. It's no good to have a large cast if you can't even tell the characters apart, so kudos to them for actually making them distinguishable.

SOUND: Some of the themes seemed like badly done karaoke songs, but some of them were actually pretty damn good. Out of the ones performed by actual artists, I'll be honest and say I only liked the ones by Kimeru and the final OP "Dream Believer" - but I liked the few songs that were supposedly performed by the characters. However, that's the best thing I can say about the music. The sound effects throughout the anime were pretty good as well.

CHARACTER: With such a large cast of characters, it's hard not to find one that you like. It'll also be hard to find one you can't connect to (I personally can relate to Fuji Shuusuke pretty well). They are extremely well-developed, but unless you stick with the show for the long haul - you might not be able to see it. The creators give each character their own was of playing tennis - including the people that mainly copy other players (and that's saying something). It's difficult to give each character their own personality if you have too many, but somehow the creators of this anime managed to do it. Yes, there are some characters that are similar to each other - but that's unavoidable; however, even those similar characters have subtle differences in their personalities that make them easier to tell apart.

ENJOYMENT: The anime is very enjoyable, provided that you can actually sit through 178 episodes. If you don't have the patience for it, then it's not as fun to watch. And when I say patience, I mean sit through the first 10-15 episodes before deciding whether or not you want to watch it. Believe me, when I got to about episode 11 - I wanted to quit watching, but I eventually got through it and once I reached episode 15, or something like that, I couldn't stop watching. Even the filler episodes are enjoyable to watch - and for most anime, you can't say that.

OVERALL: A very good anime overall. It starts off a bit slow, but stick through it - and you'll enjoy it quite a lot in the end. I know I did - working on the OVAs right now, actually.

This review is based completely on the English dub of the anime. I have not played the game or read the manga.

STORY: The name of the anime doesn't really fit it's story. The name means Tokyo Wizard Academy, but it doesn't really have anything to do with what most people describe as wizards. Instead, we've got demons and ogres. However, the main cast also has some supernatural powers - which could very well be why the series has the name that it does. Anyway, the story starts out with mysterious deaths involving the "Reborn Dead" (referred to as "Living Dead" in the dub) occurring in ... the nights of Tokyo - these usually involve people disappearing at night, reappearing during the day as a corpse; however, they're somehow able to escape from the morgue before being autopsied. This is where the main cast comes in, starting with Tatsuma Hiyuu and Kyouichi Horaiji. The two, along with the rest of their group stay up every night to find out what's causing the mysterious deaths. Soon after, they find out that there's a more powerful demon behind all the deaths.

It doesn't sound that bad, does it? The summary of the anime is what draws you in, what actually happens keeps you pretty interested. The first thing you see is people getting stabbed - and who's the witness? A baby! Funny thing is, that baby is practically the main character of this anime (oops, guess I've said too much).

ART: The art isn't very good, to be honest. This anime was created in the late 2000s? I couldn't tell. It looked more like a 1990s production. The character design was pretty well-done, but the animation takes away from it. I've seen FUNimation Entertainment put out downright amazing anime in terms of art and animation, but I have to say the animation for this was a disappointment - something I decided before I even knew FUNimation was involved in the production of the series.

SOUND: I will separate this into two sections: music and voice. Why am I doing that? Because it will look way too cluttered if I try to put my opinions on the OP, ED, and voice actors all in one paragraph.

Music - Screamo fans will definitely appreciate the OP. However, if one is more into pop/rock, they won't like it too much. That being said, it's not a very bad song, but it's not necessarily iPod-worthy. However, that depends on who you ask. The vocals for the track are done nicely enough, but depending on one's musical taste - the screaming could make or break the decision of whether or not it's a "good" song. ACID definitely did a great job with the song, and if you did away with the screamo bits - I'd say it's one of my top 5 OP tracks. The ED is absolutely beautiful. I could say it's the most amazing ED that's ever been created, but as I haven't seen every anime ever created - it could very well be wrong. That doesn't, however, change the fact that the song is just spectacular. I can't stress how much I love the ED track for this anime. The song just showcases how talented ACID is when it comes to pure vocal abilities.

Voice - The voice actors aren't really anything special. Kyouichi sounds like any other delinquent. Aoi sounds like the classic good girl, or girl next door. Yuuya sounds like a typical jock. One line from Hisui and you automatically know that he's one of those "loyal servant" types. Komaki and Tatsuma, on the other hand, are hard to describe in terms of voice; you honestly can't tell much about them from how they sound - while the other two are dead give-aways as soon as you hear them. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing depends on the individual viewer. On one hand, not being able to show the character's personality through voice acting isn't necessarily a good thing. However, Komaki's voice actress, Melissa Pritchett, redeems herself in that she can depict emotion very well (seen in "Dream Hell"). Brandon Hearnsberger, the voice of Tatsuma, is also capable of this - making him seem a little less mysterious. Vic Mignogna once again shows off his skill by voicing the villain, Tendo Kozunu; I could just hear the evil in his voice. It's no surprise though, he seems to do a great job with any role he plays when it comes to dubbing anime.

CHARACTER: The characters are pretty well-developed, the main ones anyway. It's hard to describe them without giving too much away about the show. We see that Kyouichi, despite his mean nature towards everyone but Tatsuma, seems to have a bit of a soft spot for Aoi - he's constantly protecting her, even when getting rid of her may prove more beneficial. We see that Aoi has a somewhat dark past despite her kind, gentle nature. The relationship between Yuuya and Komaki is great for comic relief, especially since she's so oblivious to Yuuya's blatant crush on her. Komaki, despite the strong facade she puts on in front of everyone, is very emotional - which is the exact opposite of what one would expect from her. She could be the most emotional of them all, and when her emotions get out-of-whack, her ability to fight is also affected - making her weaker than she really is. Yuuya is your typical jock - with the crush on probably the most oblivious girl in the show. It's honestly surprising Kyoko didn't just blurt it out. Tatsuma is just as mysterious by the end of the season as he was in the beginning. You have some questions answered, but at the same time you're left with more. He's possibly the most complex character in the show.

On the other hand, Tendo Kozunu, is much more than just some malicious person off the street looking for revenge. On the inside, he's just a sad little boy that wants to be with his mother - or at least avenge her. He's haunted by his mother's death, making it a bit hard for one to outright despise him despite all the horrible things he's done. He has a strong hatred towards Tatsuma from the first time they meet - it's later revealed that he blames Tatsuma's ancestors for his mother's death. The man is extremely manipulative, but there's something to him making it hard to completely hate him. The little girl seen with him gets no character development whatsoever - well, aside from the fact that she's a little brat.

ENJOYMENT: You definitely won't get bored. However, it's better to watch it over a long time. There's just a lot packed into one episode, but it's better take a break between viewings so you can take it all in.

OVERALL: It's pretty good anime. I wouldn't call it one of the best, but it's not something that you should just brush off. Those who say it has no storyline are either not paying very much attention, or didn't even bother giving this anime a real shot.

Eyeshield 21, so far, has been the only sports-related anime that I've actually been able to finish - yet, at the same time, it's the longest. In fact, it's the only anime with 100+ episodes that I've actually been able to complete.

How does a girl get through a 145-episode-long anime series about a sport she pretty much hates? Simple, she doesn't. At the time, I was a fan of stuff like Katekyo Hitman Reborn - and when I saw people point out similarities, I gave Eyeshield 21 a shot...a real one. With the first few episodes, I fell in love with the series - and ... everything about it.

STORY: It's your typical underdog comes out on top type of thing. What makes it different? Nothing, really. However, it's the way that it's executed. They do it in a way that makes you actually want to sit there and watch the damn thing from start to finish. It's about American football, yet it's set in Japan. As far as I knew, the game wasn't even played there. I didn't even realize NFL Japan existed until I saw the show's end credits - but that's not the point. Normally, due to my attending a high school that was OBSESSED with football, I wouldn't have bothered - but, like I said, I ended up trying the series anyway. It converted me from a football-hater to a football-lover. The show has some fillers, and with 145 episodes, that should be expected. I would have rated it a 10, but I was upset that they didn't bother to include the Teikoku Alexanders. Deimon's goal was to win the Christmas Bowl, right? Then why the hell do they end with the semi-finals of the Kanto Tournament? At least go all the way to the first mentioned goal. The ending wasn't bad by any means, but if you've read the manga - it's a bit disappointing because they don't go all the way to the end.

ART: The art was done wonderfully. Yes, it could have been better - but for an anime about a sport that most people assume isn't played in Japan, it's very good. I don't know who the animators are, but they did a very good job with this series.

SOUND: I loved all of the OPs and EDs, well except for the two songs used in the last match against Oujou - but the themes were very well done, for the most part. My personal favorite, lyric-wise, would be "Blaze Away," and I have to admit that it's probably the best ED ever in terms of lyrics because you can hear the emotion behind them. In terms of actual sound and melody, I'd prefer "A Day Dreaming..." any day. However, all the themes were wonderfully performed - even if they wouldn't all fit everyone's taste, anyone who watches the series and actually listens to the theme music will be able to pick at least one that they like. The BGM was beautifully done too, although it's a shame you never hear the lyrics to "Midnight Sunshine" in the actual series because the vocalists (the seiyuus for Sakuraba, Shin, Takami, Otowara, and Wakana - I believe, although I'm not sure if Wakana was really featured) did an amazing job on it, but "Be Survivor" and the other songs featured throughout the series were quite entertaining as well.

CHARACTER: Each character has their own distinct and unique personality. Sure, you've still got your stereotypes, but that's not all there is to them. Juumonji starts off as just another delinquent, but as he plays with the Devil Bats, he slowly grows as a man. In the beginning, he seems like he could just walk by a girl getting raped and not do anything - yet, in a later episode, he saves a girl from that fate. Sena's the weak boy who constantly gets forced into doing other people's errands; the thing that makes him efficient at this, preventing himself from being beat up, is his "golden legs" that enable him to run at the speed of light. He goes through the most growth in the series, and one can't give away much about his development without spoiling the whole series. Hiruma, on the other hand, had the most depth throughout the whole series - and, to be honest, you still haven't figured him out by the end of it. However, the series goes into enough detail about him that it's impossible to not love the character. Shin, Sakuraba, Takami, and Otowara are really the only Oujou players that get any true development but it would spoil things if we went into that in-depth. I will say this, though. Takami can be just as cunning as Hiruma, Sakuraba is more than just a pretty boy, Otowara isn't just the guy that everyone runs away from when he farts, and Shin's more than just the perfect player (you can't really write much about him without spoiling everything).

Teams - Yes, they're getting their own section. The Deimon Devil Bats are the main team in this series, and the most developed one. You see their growth from the original two (Kurita and Hiruma) to almost full team. You can't help but sympathize with them most of the time, and the producers made it hard for fans to not side with them for each and every game. The second most-developed team is obviously the Oujou White Knights. It's clear, throughout the whole series, that the creators intend for most, if not all, of the viewers to fall in love with both Oujou and Deimon - possibly because they knew the anime series would end where it did and wanted to make it a bit more climactic. Kyoshin Poseidon were there mostly to raise the self-confidence of the "Deimon Chibis" since almost all of the starters were 2 meters tall. Shinryuji was there to show how a hard-working team like Deimon can beat even the 'strongest' team in Kanto by focusing all of their strength on winning. Bando was there mostly to show how Musashi was necessary for Deimon to actually guarantee any kind of winning game; they also helped Sena gain the confidence to tell everyone who's behind the Eyeshield 21 mask. The other teams mainly helped Sena to grow as a football player - even Seibu, although Seibu helped Monta too, in that regard.

ENJOYMENT: There wasn't much of anything that I didn't enjoy about this anime.

OVERALL: 8/10 - It could have been better, but at the same time, there's not much they could improve on unless the mangaka or the animators were willing to actually go to America to see how practices, practice games, and official games actually go about. It's still pretty good as is even if they did do the research.

While I was watching Dance in the Vampire Bund, I did look at the reviews to see if I should bother trying to finish the series - it was a mix of good and bad, so I gave it a shot. Honestly, I was expecting worse. It's in no way my favorite vampire anime, but it's definitely better some of them. This review was based entirely on the english dub.

STORY: It started off great. The concept was amazing, in my opinion. I've never seen vampires willingly reveal themselves into human society, and tell them that they plan to form their own nation within their country. ... The idea of a vampire nation within human society has been done before - but never with all humans knowing that vampires existed. The main focus however seems to be on Mina and Akira's relationship, rather than the development of the vampire bund and everything that interfered with it. I couldn't help but keep watching, but as the story went on - I did start getting bored. What was with all of Akira's flashbacks? Only one of them was actually explained in detail, and it was the last one he needed for his memory to be back in full. I like that he stood by Mina's side even without his memories, but I felt like they could have went into more detail on that.

ART: Do I really need to say more? The animation was beautiful. I wouldn't say they had the best animation for a vampire anime, but it's up there. The true forms looked quite good as well. I was expecting all of them to be hideous, and for the most part, they were. Mina's true vampire form was the most spectacular one. The beast forms of Meiren and Akira were drawn beautifully as well, with a lot of detail.

SOUND: The voice-overs were decent, and the OPs and EDs were very fitting of the series.

CHARACTER: I liked Akira, but that's mostly because he's a bishounen and I can't help but like most of them - that's really all he had going for him aside from being a werewolf. Out of the other characters, Mina was the only one that had any true development. The loyal servant, Veratos, that will do anything for the ruler had already been done by other anime - and there was nothing about Vera that really made her stand out. Yuki didn't really stand out much either - just the classic "girl next door" that loves the male protagonist, the only difference is that she doesn't end up with him but that's canceled by the fact that she dated him pre-series. Wolfgang is Akira's father, and although he looked badass - we know nothing about him, but I suppose that's better than getting a lot of screentime and getting no development. I didn't hate the characters by any chance, but all of them could have used development. Yuki, Mina, and Akira are the only ones listed as main characters - but of those three, only Mina had any depth. They started trying to develop Akira near the end, but it was too little, too late; with them mentioning the amnesia early on, they should have been able to do a bit more with him. They didn't even seem to try with Yuki. Overall, the characterization was a disappointment.

ENJOYMENT: Despite my dislike of the character development, among other things, I won't deny that I enjoyed watching it. The series definitely kept me wanting more; it took me less than 24 hours to watch the whole thing - and that's a feat for even the shortest of series with me.

OVERALL: Dance in the Vampire Bund is by no means a bad anime. Yet, it's not a great anime either. If you're watching it just to watch it, you'll enjoy it quite a bit. However, if you go in with a lot of preconceptions, you might be disappointed. All vampire anime are done differently, but only some of them can actually make the genre enjoyable. Vampires are my favorite supernatural creatures, but very few anime can portray them well. Dance in the Vampire Bund is one of the few that can actually show us a decent portrayal of vampirism.

What can I say about this without being too harsh or too nice.

I'll be honest here. I only watched this because I was intrigued by the idea of Setsuna being the reincarnation of Alexiel, but that seems to be where it ends for me.

STORY: The story isn't bad by any means, but I did do a bit of research before and after watching the anime and they left a lot out. It ends with a cliffhanger, which could be good since it allows the viewer to choose what happens to Setsuna in the end. However, I was pretty confused while watching. I'll give them props ... for a realistic depiction of what would happen if an incestual relationship were to happen in real life. In other incest stories, the two committing incest are somehow always able to keep it a secret from everyone so we never see how other people react. In this anime, both of them realize how wrong it is - the fact that they do end up together just shows that they truly do love one another (and that it's not just lust like some other incest anime makes it seem). It also felt a bit short, but that's common with OVAs.

ART: The art could have been better. It fit this series particularly well. However, it doesn't look like it was produced in the 2000s, looks more like a 1990s production - but that can be overlooked since it was just the beginning of the new millenium. The art seems to work better in the anime than in the manga, though - for the early volumes of the manga, that is, based on the few scans that I've glanced at.

SOUND: Rosiel sounds like a creep and his voice left me wondering if he was going to sneak into my room and take my virginity. However, since I've only watched the OVA, I feel like it fit him. The other voice actors didn't really fit well with their characters, in my opinion - aside from Kira.

CHARACTER: Probably the best part of the OVA, in my opinion. You've got Kira who has a hard time admitting that he is, in fact, a human being - despite the fact that Rosiel's blood makes him immortal. Then you've got the delinquent big brother, Setsuna, who is actually the reincarnation of the angel Alexiel; this same guy also seems to be in love with his sister, and, although he tries to hide it, he will do anything to see her happy. Rosiel's a creep - do I really need to say more? The second I saw him, he just gave off an evil vibe. Sara, although she bored me at first, ended up being a pretty decent character - althought I don't think I would ever say I like her. Katan does a very good job at being Rosiel's sidekick, and I like the idea of the fact he believes he's doing the right thing in trying to save heaven - when the series makes the angels still residing in heaven look like the bad guys. It's not really something I'm used to. Instead of heaven and the angels being on the side of good, they're the antagonists in this - which is part of the low story rating.

ENJOYMENT: I did enjoy watching this OVA. However, I felt like they could have done more with it. While watching, to me, it seemed like they had a pretty bad budget.

Hardly any storyline. It's just a brother and sister having sex. One episode and they've had sex twice, already. I started watching the second episode of this series, and where I left off - they were about to "do it" again. Unless you like flat-out hentai, avoid this. If you haven't yet, just watch the prequel - it has more of a story than Yume no Naka, although barely.

I might have liked it more if there was more to the relationship than Sora lusting after his hot older sister with big breasts, because that's really all it is.

The only redeeming quality are the seiyuus, and ... I honestly feel bad for them - to be associated with an OVA like this. For the content of this OVA, their acting was quite good - the art wasn't too bad either, I suppose.

I can tolerate incest. I can stomach watching hentai. But if you're gonna put them together, at least come up with a storyline.

Don't bother with the manga, either. It's just more hentai scenes with more people.

I'll make this short and sweet. Take out the fan service, and you've got a great anime. Take out Rei, too, for that matter - or put Hisashi back in. The creator of this series does hentai, too, just as a warning - there's not much nudity in this, except for the episode where the girls bathe, but that was in the manga too.

However, here's my take on this. Watch the anime before reading the manga. The anime skipped some chapters and rearranged them, as well. The manga is much better than the anime, and has less fan service - so if you don't like ... that stuff, skip the anime and head straight for the manga scanlation sites.

------ READ ON IF YOU WANT MORE ------
Story: For the most part, it's very good. I'd even say great. This is how a zombie apocalypse should be. Very rarely has an anime done it right - actually, I don't believe they've ever done it right. Only video games and live action movies have, but never an anime - at least, not from my experience. With that being said, it's nice to see an anime depict monsters how they really are. Zombies were meant to be mindless creatures who only cared for more bloodshot - the only thing that came close to that was the Rosario+Vampire version of a ghoul, but I'm not even going to talk about that here. However, not only do they depict the zombies, or "them" (as the anime calls them), how they should be depicted, they also manage to keep it more realistic by mentioning the government issues.

Art: The art's fantastic from my point of view. Sure, I'd rather not look at Kouta on my computer screen, but that's just me being a horny female whenever I see Takashi. That being said, they could have made the females a little more realistic. Not every 16-18 year old girl will have big breasts. Shizuka's appearance was understandable, what high school boy doesn't want a hot nurse? None, I tell you - unless he's gay, but that's not the point. I'm not surprised by the unrealistic depiction of women in this anime, since the creator works with hentai - but I'm slightly offended.

Sound: I only liked the OP, personally. The EDs were decent though. Won't comment on the character's voices, though, as I watched the dubbed version.

Character: Characters were pretty well-developed, with two exceptions. Shizuka is too much of a ditz. I know there's the whole "dumb blonde" stereotype, but this took it too far. She sees her clothes being as important as her like, and let me tell you, not even the dumbest blonde in real life would risk her life for a damned skirt. The other character that needed more work would be Rei - and I'm not just saying this because Saeko's my favorite female character. She's a little too dependent on Takashi. Then there's the fact that she yelled at him for killing her boyfriend when said boyfriend had been turned into a zombie. The beginning of the first episode gave me high hopes for her, but they died by the end of the same episode - and each new episode only made me dislike her more. I'll admit she has some good points to her, but most of those only show when she's alone with Takashi - and even then it's rare.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed this anime very much. It's definitely worth it if you haven't seen it already. However, it would have been better if it wasn't so short. There's more action in the last two episodes than there is in the first ten combined, in my opinion. They could have fit a lot more into this series if they hadn't been doing one episode per chapter - and they didn't even do them in the right order.

Overall, it's a great anime. I would definitely re-watch it. Despite the fan service, it's very enjoyable. Like I said earlier, it's a zombie apocalypse done right.

I'll be honest here, I was a little girl when I read this series - but I can still remember it very clearly. Psychic twins who try to keep their classmates - or peers, in general, including faculty - from knowing their secret? I still haven't seen or read an anime/manga with a storyline like that - feel free to point one out to me.

The story is a good one. When I was reading it, I couldn't get enough. You won't believe how much money I spent on the volumes when Tokyopop was still releasing manga. In fact, I believe they're still laying around somewhere ... in my bedroom back home.

The art, on the other hand, not as good as the story. It might have been better if someone else illustrated it - but that's all I can say on that.

Characters are pretty good. Mika was always my favorite while I was reading it, followed by Toni. Then there's Yuuya Noda - Jackson Neil, for people reading the English version - who was the only male character I liked in the whole series. I didn't really care much for the other characters.

I enjoyed this series very much, but it could have been better. (The low enjoyment rating is because I can't even finish a full volume when I re-read.)

Overall, it's a good series...when you're 8, but it is geared towards ages 7 & up, so no surprise there.