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Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry is one of the most mixed experiences I've ever had in regards to anime and manga. Nothing about it is particularly great, in fact, I'd argue that most of its traits place it below average. Hell, the only reason I started the series was because I saw the opening on YouTube and thought it would be some kind of badass, gritty Western with samurai cowboys (The opening had a twangy, catchy tune and there were swords and the word "cavalry" was in the title. Don't judge me.) Yet, I found myself enjoying the show greatly, ... despite the fact that it pretty much sucks. Is this one of those mythical "guilty pleasures" I've heard about? The answer is no, this anime won its favor with me on its own merits, but I don't think I would ever be able to reccomend this show to anyone looking for a good anime.
Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry's main claim to fame is its romance. If you ask any fan of the show why you should watch it, they'll tell you "Its not a harem anime, its an actual romance!" and that will be it. I'm going to be brutally honest here, the romance of RKnC sucks, but those people do have a point. The chemistry between the leads (Ikki and Stella) is noteworthy, and there are some really realistic and sweet scenes between the two ("Why are we arguing?" "I don't know!"), but one of the key aspects of a good romance is actually having good characters. The characters in Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry are garbage. As a result of the characters being awful, the romance really doesn't hold any weight and can't technically be called good. That being said, the dialogue between Stella and Ikki is very enjoyable and is definitely the best thing this anime has going for it.
When I said that the characters were awful, I wasn't joking. Seriously, the leads consist of Ikki (Cliche harem protagonist who's saving grace is the fact that he isn't in a harem. He's also really overpowered despite being built up as weakling who sucks at magic.) and Stella (Starts out as nothing more than a tsunedere bitch, but loses those tsunedere qualities by the halfway point of the show. After aformentioned halfway point, she essentially has no standout character qualities to speak of. Tsunedere bitch > no standout qualities.). What's really sad is that the cast of side characters are all just as generic and, in some cases, outright disgusting. Shizuku, Ikki's little sister, is a white haired loli who wants to fuck her big bro. Classy. What's worse is that the anime tries to explain this disgusting behaviour through this big, tragic backstory of how she always looked up to her brother and just wanted to help him with his problems. The only thing worse than pedophilia is self-hating pedophilia that tries to justify its own perversion. Embrace the fuckery, damnit! Oh, and theres also a tranny named Alice who's somewhat of a sassy gay(?) mentor figure to Shizuku and others. Out of all the side characters in the series, the only one that I really liked was the final villain, Todo. She was this badass chick who was also really likeable and charismatic. On top of that, there writer(s) goes out the way to place parallels between Toda and Ikki. I honestly felt like she would have made a better protagonist than Ikki.
The plot is awful as well. Threats are hyped up (student council is an example of this) and then totally disregarded. There's also this big subplot at the end of the series involving a hearing that doesn't make any sense whatsoever (Why the hell did Ikki go to the hearing and let himself be tortured? He literally did nothing wrong and had no reason, psychological or legal, to go. Kissing a rich, talented girl is not illegal last time I checked. So contrived.).
So why do I like this series? Like I said, the romantic dialogue was good and realistic and Todo was beastly. Also, while the romantic plot is bad and the characters suck, the romance progresses at a pace that is pleasing, fulfilling, and unique. Also, the soundtrack (particularly dat opening) was fairly good.
All in all, Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry is a shitty series with some really fun aspects. I wouldn't reccomend it to anybody other than an experience fan of LN adaptations.
This is Horatio_Nelson, signing out.

Where do I begin with Fate/Zero? The first time I watched this series (roughly two years ago) I, admittedly, adored it. However, I recently rewatched it after reading the Fate/Stay Night light novel. It was then that my opinion of the seriess dropped substantially. Don't worry! This won't be a review where I bitch about how Fate/Zero messed up the characters that had been lovingly crafted in Fate/Stay Night! Indeed, I will try my best not to mention that wonderful novel (and godawful fanbase) and will instead focus on analyzing the content at hand. There will, however, be MILD SPOILERS. Consider yourself warned.

... The key problem with Fate/Zero is, in my mind, its characters, if you can call them that. When it comes to Urobuchi (the writer behind Psycho Pass, Madoka Magica, this, and some other stuff that nobody cares about), the main thing most critics complain about is the lack of good characterization. Urobuchi himself has admitted that when it comes to writing characters, the only way he knows how to develop them is to make them go insane. As a result, most of Urobuchi's characters have a tendency to come across as just tools of the writer rather than actual people. And yet, when it comes to Fate/Zero, the characters are often times given a free pass. The reason behind this is obvious, many of the characters that are present in Fate/Zero were also present Fate/Stay Night (don't worry, I'll talk about Rider and Waver later) and because of this, older watchers have a very positive knee-jerk reaction despte the fact that the characters in question aren't being written very well.
Let's start with the inexplicably popular protagonist of the series, Kiritsugu. Everyone's favorite edgelord. And that's exactly what he is, an edgelord. Kiritsugu is the gritty, badass, nigh-immoral hero who believes that the ends (saving as many people as possible) always justify the means (killing, backstabbinig, etc.). But he has a tragic backstory, is truly a nice person on the inside, and in the end he fully realizes the error of his ways and that by saving one person, he can save himself. And... thats about it. Thats all there is to the hero of this story. He has no funny quirks, no interesting personality traits that make him unique, no sideplots that make him seem more human (unless if you count the robotic and mildly creepy romance that he had going on with Irisviel or the wasted, near meaningless, and still somewhat creepy romance with Maiya). He isn't even a particularly well-developed character. All of his character development happens within the final two episodes of the series, and his entire backstory gets dropped over the course of two episodes 2/3 of the way through the series. Other than his typical stoic badass attitude and capabilities, nothing about Kiritsugu makes him likeable or unique. He's literally Homura.
But what about the side characters? Kariya and Kirei are both good (they fall under Urobuchi's strong point: characters who develop via falling into darkness), but thats about it. Nobody gives a crap about Kayneth or Tokiomi, so I won't mention them. They're completely forgettable. Saber and Gilgamesh are both bland caricatures of what they were in Fate/Stay Night. In this, Gilgamesh's ego seems more like a funny quirk than a defining character trait established by a lifetime of unchallenged supremacy (Fate/Stay Night Gil would never have lost his shit over something as petty as being forced to stand on the same ground as somebody else, nor would he have literally rode Iskander's dick the way he did after Iskander failed. Shirou and Broserker both did one hundred times better than Iskander, and barely got acknowledged). And of course, Urobuchi makes sure to punish Saber for being an honorable person at every possible oppurtunity, even if it means changing the character in order to do so. A good example of this would be the King's Banquet scene, where Saber practically shits herself after Iskander says that she isn't a king because she didn't rule over her people like a tyrant. Now I'm no Seiba-fanboy (I now hate myself for having used that spelling) but the girl's never struck me as stupid. She should have been more than capable of defending herself against Iskander's reasoning, which was quite honestly retarded.
And now we come to Iskander and Waver, the most popular yaoi couple in the anime. Waver isn't much to talk about, pretty much just your standard little-bitch-comes-of-age story. Iskander, on the other hand, is a selfish, two-dimensional Gary Stu prick who recieves hardly any development throughout the series, yet gets praised for his charisma and manliness. The problem with Iskander is that he is essentially the pet of Urobuchi in the story. He's always in the right (even when he's not), and is given lip-service by characters who would normally never do so (did I mention that Gilgamesh, who was originially one of the characterically egotistical characters in the history of anime, rides his dick to the moon?). It should be noted that Iskander's policy for kingship is essentially "REAL LEADERS KNOW THAT LETTING YOUR PEOPLE KILL EACHOTHER IS OKAY BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU HAVE RESPECT FOR INDIVIDUALITY! FUCK THE PEOPLE, KINGS DO WHAT THEY WANT! THAT'S WHAT REAL LEADERSHIP IS!!", and yet all the edgelords and sheep watching (and Urobuchi if the plot is any indicator) praise him for how badass and manly he is. What a joke of a character.
As for the story? Its fine, though it suffers from the same problems that all stories with wish granting magical plot devices suffer from (if you've seen Madoka Magica, you know what I'm talking about). The beginning sort of sucks, as the first two episodes are essentially a massive infodump. Obviously, it would have been better if that info had been dropped at a steadier rate throughout the series. And then there is the jarring two-episode flashback that I mentioned before, but other than that the plot is pretty good.
Art? Sound? Its Ufotable. Next?
All in all, Fate/Zero is a far more enjoyable series than I made it out to be in this review. I focused more on the negatives because practically everyone out there knows the positives. Its a well produced action anime with a good plot and an interesting fantasy element yet mostly boring or irritating characters (except for Kotomine-Goddamn-Badass-Get-Hyped-for-Heaven's-Feel-Greatness-Kirei). Overall, the series deserves 6.5-7. Oh, wait, Ilyasviel doesn't play a major role in this series? For that alone, I'm taking a point off!

Before I go into this review, I'm just going to say that I actually like FMAB. It is a good anime, and definitely a must watch. That said, there are just a few things about it that just rub me the wrong way.
First of all, the story. It starts out dark, atmospheric, and complicated, just like the first anime, but unfortunately the story loses most of that atmosphere about a quarter of its way into the story, where as FMA was able to maintain that feeling of brooding tension from beginning to end. The pacing is terrible as well, ... and the reason of this is also the main reason as to why the story loses its feel: the first act. Arkawa wrote the manga in a fairly clean three part story;
-the first act (which concludes with Greed's spoiler)
-the second act (Briggs)
-the third act (Promise Day)
The problem with the first act isn't in its composition, indeed, in terms of composition I'd say that that the first act is the best of the three. Its all in the manner in which the story is told. The entire first act is blasted through in about 15 episodes, followed by a choppy, confusing transition into the second part. The rest of the story suffers as a result, as the second act is entirely plot driven with little space for development with the main characters, which in turn leads to the feeling that you're not actually watching a story as much as you are just watching people you don't care about do things for hours on end. The third act is admittedly outstanding, but there is still a slight feeling of indifference radiated by several characters and certain events take an absurd amount of time to come to pass. There is a reason for this pacing problem, that problem being that the show seemingly expects people to have watched the first series and tries not to bore them with the first act. Which is completely and utterly idiotic given the unbreakable golden rule of adaptations: never assume that the audience has seen the original or read the book. The ending is a mixed bag as well. Its undeniably satisfying, but it is also far too simple and happy for such a complex series.
The cast of Brotherhood is a mixed bag, some characters (Ed, Alphonse, Scar, Izumi, Major Armstrong) are solid, but not as good they were in the original. Others (pretty much just Mustang and Winry) are better than they were in the original due to a higher level of focus and more interesting subplots. A few characters, unfortunately, are either boring archetypes or just plain useless. May Chang and Yoki have practically no purpose in the story other than to be love interests or comedy relief. There is no depth to their characters and no real purpose (May Chang does introduce a new kind of Alchemy to the main characters, but that could have also been done just as easily by Ling giving Ed a book or something), so when they get in danger or die, the audience has no reason to give a damn other than "Well, I thought she was kind of cute.". The worst character, however, is easily Olivier Mira Armstrong, and believe me (or hate me, which is probable) when I say that this character is the literal epitome of almost everything wrong with modern media. So many people these days fall in love with characters just because they subvert gender/racial stereotypes, which isn't even remotely close to being a reason to like a character (unless if you in turn are racist or sexist). Olivier Mira Armstrong isn't well rounded, has no character development other than a cliche growing of fondness towards her "weak" brother, and does absolutely nothing other than order others around and act like a badass (and by badass I mean backstabbing old guys and getting her ass handed to her by the dumbest character in the series). We never see Olivier laugh, cry, get scared, or do anything other. Good character my ass. As for the villains, there is some good and some bad. Pride and Kimblee are awesome, though I still prefer the orginal Kimblee. Envy is a decent one as far as generic psychopaths are concerned, and the Azula moment that he pulls against Mustang towards the end is spectacularly handled. Wrath on the other hand is a badass but forgettable, and his moment of goodness in the end felt horribly contrived. The big bad lead villain works, but is basically a less subtle Voldemort with a vendetta against God. Once again, badass, but forgettable.
As far as art goes, FMAB is okay. Some things look a bit too round (Mustang literally looks like a five year old) and Edward's hair takes even longer to get used to. The action, animation, soundtrack, and voice acting are all brilliant and help ease you through the story where the pacing and the tension fails.
Overall, Brotherhood is a pretty good series, as long as you don't think too much about the ending or tha pacing or the characters. Just enjoy the ride and don't expect the masterpiece that the MAL community might pressure you into believing it is.

Of all of the anime out there, few are more controversial than FMA. Not only does FMA not follow the excellent source material, but it is likely the only series out there to make a great series almost entirely out of filler.
As far as story goes, FMA is far from perfect. There are plot holes aplenty, and many disliked the second half of the series. That said, I still loved FMA's plot. Yes, it had all of the consistency of swiss cheese, but at least it was a particularly tasty piece of swiss cheese. There are many plot twists in ... the second half of the series, and you will amost certainly be kept guessing till the end. The true delight of FMA's plot comes with the philosophy and insight into the human condition that the series provides. At the end of the day, FMA isn't just a story about a pair of brothers, one a double amputee, the other a diesmbodied suit of armor, and their journey to fix their bodies, it is a story about understanding the reality of life and how one must embrace that reality if they are ever to obtain happiness.
The best part about FMA as a whole is, hands down, its characters. Edward Elric makes for a ceaselessly entertaining and outstanding protagonist, and Alphonse Elric for an amazing deuteragonist. The story really shines with its antagonists too, each of them having their own personal vendetta's against the protagonists (especially Sloth). Lust's character development throughout the series is nothing short of true beauty, and Envy makes for one of the most threatening transvestites I've ever seen (having recently finished Hunter x Hutner, that means quite a lot too!). I'd also say that Envy is my favorite character in the series, he's just so entertaining every time he shows up on screen and his story in the end is fairly tragic.
That isn't where the Fullmetal Awesomeness ends though. Bones really put everything they had into this series, and it shows. The art and OST are both phenomenal (Dante's Theme is especially riveting), and there is plenty of imagery that your not likely to forget, such as the splatter of a certain chimera on a wall or the look of horror on a characters' face as they realize that they've just killed someone with out any intention of doing so.
Fullmetal Alchemist is a great series and a must watch for anybody who is interested in anime.

I haven't read the Attack on Titan manga, and don't intend to. The art seems terrible from what I've seen and honestly I just don't want to spend the money. So, I went into this anime relatively blind, knowing only that there were Titans, they got attacked, and alot of people seemed to like the outcome that is this series. So what did I think? Well, Attack on Titan has its good points, and it has its bad. Let's start with the story. Going into this anime, I expected the story to be very simple, with more focus being placed on the ... characters. The reasoning behind this is the premise that is provided in the first episode; there are Titans, and they attack. As the story unfolded, I realized that I could not have been more wrong. Attack on Titans is, for the most part, a plot driven anime. The viewers are quickly yet smoothly thrust from point A to B, and the only character development that takes place either happens along the ride or directly before a massive fight scene (will talk about later). The story is paced expertly, and while the twists are notoriously predictable, the show is good enough that you can know exactly what is going to happen next and still enjoy yourself.

And then there are the characters. Attack on Titan features a main trio of sorts, which consists of Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert. Whenever there is a group of main characters that the viewer is intended to follow from the beginning of the story to the end, one must always look for four individual archetypes(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles examples will be used for the sake of simplicity)- the heroic main guy (Leonardo), the badass-selfish-lonely jerk (Raphael), the smart one (Donatello), and the pretty and/or funny one (if Michaelangelo was human you can bet your ass he would be good looking). In a group of three, one character usually ends up getting the best (or worst) of two of the four archetypes while the other two follow form (Ex: Harry Potter is the hero, Ron is the lonely jerk, and Hermione gets the other two). In Attack on Titans, that character is Mikasa Ackerman, who gets the Raphael archetype and the pretty one archetype. And sweet Mother Theresa on the hood of a Mercedes-Benz is this character annoying. Mikasa is quiet (note: not shy), beautiful (surprise there), funny when she wants to be (but never one to laugh at somebody else's joke), just absolutely amazing at everything (top of the class and all that), and, wait for it, absolutely amazing at everything. She's essentially a female Sasuke as Sasuke was in his very first appearance, except Mikasa never developed afterward and instead of having the badass purpose of killing her sadistic older brother, Mikasa just wants to protect the main character with her life. Granted, her character isn't entirely worthless. Mikasa is reallly good at killing things, but wants to spend her life protecting Eren, creating a sense of conflicting irony that becomes clear at key moments with her character. Speaking of Eren, he starts out promisingly enough, then quickly falls into the background after the tenth episode (can't really say anything more without spoilers). He isn't a good or bad character, just painfully average. Armin Arlert is the smart member of the group, and easily the second best character in the series. He has actual growth, is written intelligently, and contributes to the story. My favorite character would have to be Annie Leonhardt, who basically gets more character development than every other character in this series combined in all of the ten minutes for which she actually has dialogue. Once again, can't say any more about her without major spoilers.

From a special effects point of view, this series is fantastic. The soud is brilliant, and the manner with which the CGI is incorporated into the animation is brilliant. As a result, all of the fight scenes stand out and are just all around awesome. The art on the other hand, is average. When there isn't any fighting going on, expect a lot of still shots and facial shots.

Overall, Attack on Titan is a decent, but overhyped and overrated series. Go in expecting nothing more than mindless action and you'll get more than you bargained for. Go in expecting a well-thought out anime fraught with meaning and you'll spend the rest of your live wishing spent that time watching something else.