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Jul 14, 2011
*Warning: Wall of text.
Battle Girls: Time Paradox, also called Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox, is an anime based on a topic that we rarely find... history. Indeed, the entire plot is based off Japanese history during the Warring State Era. The only real noticeable difference you'll find is that your favorite long-beared old landlord geezer is replaced with well-endowed, crazy 2-D chicks swinging their bigass weapons around like a crazy yandere, who are, did I mention, big-boobed (albeit Hideyoshi, which I'll touch on later). Yeah, crazy big-boobed yanderes. Mind blowing isn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this replacement of historical figures with big rack
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girls doesn't make an anime necessarily good or bad; it just makes it an anime and something different from your teacher's feeble attempts at teaching you Warring State Era history by showing you a slideshow of paintings of dead people for 4 hours which he/she cleverly calls a "documentary". Whether this anime is good or bad is fully up to how it organizes the effective conveyance of the 5 aspects on the right side of this screen. And before you start saying anything: Yes I have a problem with teaching history by watching a 4 hour slideshow of pictures of dead people.
Story (6/10)
Really nothing intriguing can be said about the story. This is the history related story of Hideyoshi, who Wikipedia tells me was a Warring States Era general under Nobunaga. Hideyoshi, needless to say, is not an old man. She's an annoying little loli girl with an uncanny motivation to do mushycrap things. Hideyoshi, upon visiting the shrine to pray for good test scores unrealistically and over-exaggeratedly does a bunch of dumb things that just so happens to push her into someone casting a spell taking them to the Warrings States Era. *Deep breaths with facepalm. Anyways, she meets Nobunaga-dono, a tall big boobed lady with the intent to conquer the land using the Crimson Armor, a legendary, cursed, and... (you guessed it) crimson armor that apparently dons battle prowess on the maiden who wears it, enabling her to unite Japan. She vows to help Nobunaga collect the 7 pieces of the armor and along the way they meet a bunch of other busty chicks representing old geezers who Hideyoshi notice resembles her best friends in the modern day world. The most seering flaw in the story is the predictability of the ending, looking even beyond what history says. I mean cmon, it's a girl who is sent to another dimension, how do you THINK it's going to end? Watching the entire series knowing exactly how it is going to end was a bummer for me since it deprived me of the powerful effect of plot twists and suspense. Perhaps if the producers spent more time to add something more interesting than a red armor, this series would have been less of a letdown story-wise. The only capricious event was when (Spoiler, not that it matters) the pink mahou-shoujo gets the ugly red armor to amplify her mahou-shoujonness and becomes a rampaging yandere. That I didn't expect O_O.
Art (8/10)
Realistically speaking (ironic.. since I'm grading a 2-D entity) the art was outstanding. The world of the Warring States Era is large and I would have been content watching nostalgic sunsets or magical scenes. Instead, the producers thought it would be funny to have Hideyoshi's annoying face and Mitsuhide's manly face on my screen 90% of the time. But seriously, Mitsuhide's design... do something about it... I don't like wasting time asking myself if a character is a male or a female.
Sound (10/10)
I never really considered sound until I was watching the Mitsuhide and Date-sensei swinging practice swords. The sound effects of the sword cutting the air seemed extremely realistic. It may seem weird but at that moment I realized that the sound of the sword traveling through the air sounded better and more accurate than most of the sound effects I hear in anime. This, paired up with a very VERY catchy OP and a reminiscent ED takes the top tier cake in terms of the sound aspect.
Character (4/10)
My brain kind of hurts thinking about this part. Needless to say, I disliked Hideyoshi. I feel kind of bad saying this, but I really didn't like her personality. She's directly comparable to Daphne from Scooby-Doo. Both of them worry about little things, they both get kidnapped and tied up really easily, and in both cases, people (this "people" being me) wonder if they're lacking half a brain or something. Hideyoshi, however, beats Daphne in annoyingness and whining. She seriously doesn't cut it with the "That's so mean!!!", "You can't do that!", "Save her.. you can't kill her". When a series goes 13 episodes with this crap, it becomes intolerable. (On a side note: "Hideyoshi". Get it? From baka test? Lol. Both are flat chest but BT Hideyoshi is so much more awesome and *hangs head in shame for saying this* cute) The next character of importance it Nobunaga-dono. I personally like seeing female characters (and people for that matter) voice their beliefs directly and work to achieve their goal, exhibiting intelligence, passion and independence. Although Nobunaga did satisfy most of these aspects... she was just... a bit creepy to me, for a lack of a better description. She looks creepy and she laughs a bit weird. I'm perfectly ok with psychotic yandere loli vampire girls laughing crazily when she's about to kill you in a video game, but I'm not ok with a large women laughing hysterically for no reason. Mitsuhide-skipping her. Let's just say her reasons for staying with Nobunaga makes me question her sexual alignment a little. Overall the characters were really done pretty poorly. The producers overplayed the fanservice card, and the personality of the characters suffered dramatically as a result. They exhibited poor judgment in many situations, executing retarded debacles instead of cleverly thought-out actions. But above all, watching the characters go about their intended plot niche makes you realize how shallow the characters seem. I couldn't really relate to them or their actions.
Enjoyment (5/10)
What makes up enjoyment when I watch anime is how detailed, logical and thought-out the anime is, essentially how much effort is put into making it. I can't enjoy something unless it actually makes sense to me (and many anime have failed miserably in this aspect). Battle Girl: Time Paradox seemed to do a half-assed job when it comes to logically establishing preceding plot scenes and story conveyance. Three examples come to my mind to support this claims:
First is the title. It says "Time Paradox" but there's really nothing paradoxical about it (Except maybe trying to have a cool sounding title that ended up contradicting the original intention). Reading the title makes me think it was an anime related in some way, shape or form to string theory analysis and/or the distortion rifts caused by traveling through time. Nothing of that caliber happened. It was just a girl who traveled through time. Some paradox...
Second is the effort put into battles. I'm not particularly picky about battle attacks but when all the characters only attack with ONE move in the entire series it gets on my nerves a bit. Nobunaga goes "CRUEL BLADE" "CRUEL BLADE" "CRUEL BLADE" over and over again. Others go "Fire dragon something blah", etc etc over and over again. This distaste in creativity does hurt the overall effect of the anime. I'd like my anime to be a bit more creative than watching a pokemon battle where the pokemon only has one move. "Rattata used tackle" "Rattata used tackle" "Rattata used tackle"....(doesn't that rat ever get tired?...)
Third is Hideyoshi. She gets tied to a tree and escapes. The intelligent people out there may ask "how did she escape? she isn't good at anything!" The anime answers with.. "She got hungry". I'm not kidding. She was tied to a tree. She got hungry so her stomach contracted. And she escaped. What utter laughable bull. Perhaps it was meant for humor but then I would argue that the time for that was misplaced, as it was in the middle of a very dramatic situation. Instead of thinking up something cool like having her use her secret manicure set (I swear all girls have one of those hidden somewhere on their body) get her out (I jest. It can be cooler than this), they decided to turn Hideyoshi from a Peter Griffin to a Quagmire. Yeah... wut?
Overall (7/10)
Perhaps I failed to convey the complete entity of my opinion in this review because after reading back, I feel like any reader could deduce that I hated this anime more than anything else I've watched. This is certainly not the case. Battle Girls does have many positive attributes that I neglected to mention and hopefully the intelligent people reading this review who were genuinely curious about this anime would read to this last paragraph. Why a 7/10 despite all these complaint about it? Because those complaints are simply things that could change about this. It's true that I couldn't directly relate to the character but Battle Girls: Time Paradox isn't a horrible anime. It's something that you can watch to pass time, and there's certainly rewards to be obtained from watching it; the most basic being a fundamental, albeit lacking, understand of Warring States Era. Most of the information and events in this anime are genuinely a part of Japanese history, and organizing an anime based so closely off history while making it entertaining and interesting is NOT an easy task. I understand this prospect, which is why I devoted some 3 hours of my time to write a comprehensive review on it. For an anime that I hate to the core, I wouldn't even bother wasting my time writing this. I mean, you can only say "This anime sucks" to a sucky anime so many times in so many ways, but you can certainly say a lot more if you were genuinely trying to constructively criticize an anime to improve it.
*Reviewer's note: I feel kind of bad criticizing the characters of Battle Girls like this. They were good characters and the anime did have an effect on me (albeit minor) so I kind of regret being so harsh. Of course there's always an exception to this, and one particular exception being the completely disastrous and unrelatable characters of a certain anime abbreviated to "A.H".
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 6, 2011
*I'll try to keep this short so you don't spend an hour reading this when you could have used that hour to just freaking watch it.
If you've watched enough hentai, you'd notice that hentai doesn't follow the normal plot development. In nearly every hentai, there is no poetic justice. Simply put, the bad guys raping people keeps on raping people without negative consequences. On the other hand, the good guys trying to prevent it and the victims keep getting raped over by hentai-karma. Otome Chibaku Yuugi, however, seems to refute this bland development. For once in a freaking generation, this anime finally DOES have
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poetic justice paired up with a plot. Needless to say, this is what made Otome Chibaku Yuugi worth watching and, ultimately, superior to the generic, boneU4timesPerEpLolHaha hentai.
Story (10/10)
Let's face it, nobody dives into hentai for a story (Or at least I hope no one does...) We're in it to see what kind of weird shit happens, occasionally replaced with romance and actual love (still less than 10% of the scenes ._.). The few hentai that actually does have a plot are usually ridiculously laughable (Oh great, he's collecting the 7 holy di***s) and woefully underdeveloped. Fewer if any, actually base the hentai element on the story. Otome Chibaku Yuugi happens to be one of those few. The main character Kaoru was sexual abused and humiliated by his childhood friend Nanao. Otome is the narration of his revenge against her... one step at a time. Not including the actual hentai aspects, the vengeance and conspiracy plot element alone was enough to keep me watching. Watching the story develop to me was like watching an assassin kill his targets... planned out and in secret, he dispatches them one by one...
Art (8/10)
Comparing the art of a hentai produced some half a decade ago to the standard of art in 2011 is relatively... uh... stupid. Hentai is for content, not for art. Nevertheless the art aspect is important to a certain extent. For example, you shouldn't waste your precious time wondering why you're watching an alien orgy when the summary promised "secret 5th period at school". Art should just be contented at the point where what you see actually resembles what was promised to you. I'll be brutally honest, Otome Chibaku Yuugi art is decent but certainly not the best animation I've seen in hentai. However, the fact that it avoids including those faceless sex zombies with arm length boners adds extra points in my book any day.
Sound (7/10)
How the hell do I rate sound?... Well there wasn't any creepy laughter or puking sound... oh I get it... let's just leave it at "Otome Chibaku Yuugi had the standard average for sound".
Character (10/10)
I don't know many hentai characters, but Kaoru has to be one of my favorites. Regardless of whether I'm watching a slice-of-life, an action, a mech, etc or a hentai, I am inclined to relate to the male protagonist. I'm sure some of you understand what I'm trying to say. You feel like you somehow become that person in the anime and hence want the best for him (based on what you believe represents "best"). Going even beyond that, Kaoru's personality and his maturing role in the anime would distinguish him even if he was not in a hentai. In an age where male anime characters only seem to start out cold, strong and silent and end the series weak, submissive and fallen-in-love, Kaoru represents the glorious opposite. His trust betrayed by his childhood friend, he becomes heartless and vengeful. Using manipulation and intellectual planning, he achieves his goal of vengeance. What a perfect example of how some male characters should be.
Overall (10/10)
I sometimes can't bear to watch certain hentais because I feel so sorry for a character or it utterly disgusts me. Otome Chibaku Yuugi, on the other hand, had the exact opposite effect on me. With its unique story and poetic justice for its characters, I was voluntarily compelled to keep watching. It was different and it was good. I feel that it would have been a great anime even if the hentai aspects were removed. This, in my opinion, is the sure-tell sign of a masterpiece in hentai.
*Oh and apologies for length-failing again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 7, 2011
*Pre-Note: Any Ano Hana hurt fanboys are probably not too happy to see this review. It's alright. Rate it down even before reading this if it satisfies your anger. I personally feel a bit sorry for the cute and awesome characters from School Days since they'd suffer for a completely unrelated review, but other than that, I couldn't care less if you did.
To the people who were actually looking for the review, I apologize for this.
School Days, within the recent years, has become a symbol series for the sheer pleasure and entertainment of watching/reading violent love, described by a divine term called "YANDERE".
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To people unfamiliar with this term, Yanderes are people, usually girls, that become so psychotically in love with another person to the point where they'd become violent and kill others for that person to be in their arms (sometimes dead in their arms lol). I personally have a great love for Yanderes because I respect their devotion to the person they love, so for people who aren't too fond of violent love, you may want to stop reading here. For those who continue to bear through, you can expect yourself in for a ride, starting with shoujo romance for most chapters and ending with a twisted, creepy and yet, compelling ending.
Story (10/10)
Seeing as this is the review for the School Days manga, content may differ from the actual anime. This is the story of Mikoto Itou and his school days (pun intended) with his childhood friend Sekai and his girlfriend Kotonoha. Sekai initially introduces and aids Mikoto to get close to and eventually date Kotonoha. However, she soon realizes that she's doing the things exactly contrary to her true feelings. As Sekai finally begins to act, the atmosphere compresses with suspense. Above all, this was a shoujo manga and thus the plot was mainly purposed with conveying the feelings and tensions of this love triangle. By that regard, I believe that this manga achieved astronomical success within only twelve chapters of print. Contrary to most slice-of-life and shoujo mangas, things DO happen in School Days, and they happen rather fast. Perhaps the tipping point for this perfect score on story is how School Days actually conveys the drama and anxiety to the reader. I absolutely despise cheesy mushycrap character conversations, and School Days avoided that. I carefully read every single word and truly felt like I was there in the manga. To send such a powerful conveyance of image, with absolutely no cheesy-dialogue or irritating facepalmable moments, and focused solely on that purpose is truly an astonishing feat.
Art (9/10)
Nothing I really can say about the art except it was decent and didn't hinder the value of the manga by any means. I really liked Kotonoha's design and one particularly awesome image involving her (perhaps some of you who read this will see it later in the chapters). In certain parts, the art really accentuated the mood of the characters, which had a tremendous impact in the overall essence of the story. Nevertheless, the style was nothing to floorchin drool for. Also, I happened to get Sekai mixed up with another female character a lot because their hair designs were really similar. That sucks since I always think Sekai is bi-polar (biwinning).
Character (10/10)
First of all before I go on any further about characters, I would like to say that Mikoto wasn't a great guy. He was an ambivalent wuss, and he caused a great tragedy because of it. However, since the entire series depended on his personality being indecisive, it would be wrong to judge him based simply on that. Fortunately, his other aspects are pretty amiable and he didn't seem to draw too many noticeably setbacks from his ambivalence. Other than his somewhat timid personality (still much better than 90% of the guys in modern day anime/manga), Mikoto was quite likable. He didn't exhibit the annoying nature of some guys, but simply confused and passionate feelings-- something that almost all guys torn between childhood friend and girlfriend would show. Hence, it was very believable and contributed greatly to the realism in this manga (if only we actually DID live in that world...*sigh *crosses fingers and hopes*.) Sometimes, although still rather rarely, I even sympathized with him and his current situation. Some of you readers might even find yourself doing that more than periodically.
Mikoto, his childhood friend, is a typical happy and cheerful girl. She is nice and helpful, contrasting with the mean and arrogant females in most anime/mangas. Her pure, amicable personality is what made her tolerable and what, ultimately, gives her transformation such an extreme epicness to it. Kotonoha, the girlfriend, is simply too cute. Her moeness really hit me hard and I felt myself secretly rooting for her the entire time. Kotonoha would be what you call a "Deredere". Derederes are really devoted and awesome people who are simply too cute and pure, filled with passionate feelings of love, and usually devoid of the irritating mushycrap talk (*hint: doesn't deredere end similar to another word previously mentioned? *wink). Although neither of the three characters are at the top of the list for unique school life characters in manga, they all had their own purpose to it. These three characters, working together, made School Days the legend it is today.
Enjoyment (10/10)
School Days was seriously fulfilling for a Yandere fan like me. After searching for hours for other Yandere masterpieces, I still haven't found anything that rivaled School Days. I'll concede that I liked this anime probably more than the average person did simply because of my love for Yanderes and select Moe DereDeres, but above all that, School Days still did have some aesthetic value. It got me thinking and dreaming about those events, and to challenge myself to imagine beyond the boundaries of the world. I believe that this is exactly what a good manga should do.
Overall (9/10)
As uniquely the best (yandere) "shoujo" manga I have ever read, School Days really had a deep impact on me despite being rather short. My only disappointment with the actual manga is the fact that it should have been longer and maybe include more details. Above all, I felt like putting the little amount of time into reading this had brought me a plethora of enjoyment and experience. So, for bored, perhaps curious of Yanderes, people who aren't willing to spend countless hours boggled down in the pages of some hundred chapter manga, School Days is an excellent "bang per buck" manga to pick up. For others that truly despises violence or romance, avoid School Days at all costs.
P.S. I didn't think I have to write this, but I’ll say it in case for future references: A review is an opinion. It's ok to disagree with my opinion as long as you're not being an arrogant, illogical ass about it. What's NOT ok is denying people their inherent right to voice that opinion or telling someone their opinion is wrong. Opinions are opinions. There is no right and wrong.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 5, 2011
A few days ago, I'd download every anime that had passable art and wasn't a complete brain-kill experience to watch, because I believed that since people took the time and effort to make it, the least I could do is show my appreciation for their (and the anime characters that I personify as real entities) efforts by watching the anime. I'd feel like not downloading an anime was missing out on a unique experience so I forced myself to watch all of them to the point where watching anime became almost like an obligative burden rather than an enjoyment. Watching Ano Hi Mita Hana no
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Mamae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai has made me realize my mystake in that regard. It was that horrible. Each anime is certainly unique but Ano Hana was "Uniquely Horrible". Perhaps it's my low tolerance of bland, unoriginal slice-of-life plotline set-ups that fueled this review, but I simply hope that this review will reach out to the likeminded people out there in the world (however few there may be) to prevent them from suffering this excruciatingly painful experience. I took up Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai for the hell of it since the ridiculously long trolling name amused me. Unfortunately, it actually did give me hell.
Story (3/10)
Ano Hana is about this guy Jintan who was the leader of a small group of friends back some number of years in elementary school. After Menma, the one girl he apparently had feelings for, died in a car accident, he disbanded the group and everyone drifted apart. The entire point of this anime is to grant Menma, who is now supposedly a ghost that haunts Jinta with childish tantrums, her final wish that SHE doesn't even remember. Great, so we're gonna watch another Yumekui Merry plot with subpar Onii-chan no Koto art that doesn't have a single, clear, defined purpose to fulfill. No thank you. I'm not about to waste what little precious free time I have looking under garbage cans for a plot. Nor am I willing to waste hours learning about the fulfillment of her wish that requires everyone in the old gang to be present (the wish is probably something retarded like "I wish everyone would get along again... BYE GUYS I DIED", "Jintan stop being a hikikomori and go get laid", or "Jintan I love you... *dissolves into particles"). Even looking beyond this boring, unoriginal plot and these cheesy attempts to incite emotions from the viewer, the incompetent character/ structure development is inexcusable. Nearly half way through the first episode, I didn't know wtf was going on. If I didn't read the synopsis on wikipedia half way through, I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't know what the fok Ano Hana was about. All I know was that some girl who was apparently supposed to be dead is sitting on top of this guy. No one else interacts with her or responds to her childishness except Jinta, suggesting that she's a ghost, but in this day and age of anime revolution, who know what the hell it could have been. But seriously, I don't think I should need to bust into Linear Algebra Abstract Inter-Dimensional analysis mode just to find out why a girl is there and what the hell is going on. It's over half way through the episode. We should at least know what's going on before they start flinging cheesy character interaction crap around.
Art (3/10)
The art is truly horrible for an anime in this technological era. On top of that, the character designs are ugly, annoying, and......you guessed it.. unoriginal, just like everything else in this anime. Menma looks like someone blended Isana from Yumekui Merry and a bunch of weird looking K-ON girls with a chainsaw (seriously look at her facial design.. if that doesn't ring the K-ON bell I don't know what would). Anaru is an obvious crap ripoff of Mikoto from Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, and Jintan himself looks like a geeky shemale (what's up with the rubber band?...). I am overall unimpressed with the character design and art.
Characters (1/10)
It would be inaccurate to say that I watched 1 episode since I couldn't even bear finishing that episode. In actuality I only watched about 60% of the episode. Characters... you know I just won't even...I don't even..sigh*. I've only watched 12 minutes of Ano Hana, but I could probably list so many bad things about the characters that it'll take up the entire bandwidth on this site and cause a temporary server shutdown. I'll just leave it with this: The characters are pathetic. Jintan has no backbone like 99% of all male protagonists nowadays. However, the difference between the characters of this anime and some other anime is that usually the other animes have awesome female characters to compensate. Ano Hana, on the other hand, has none. Menma is slightly tsundere-ish, but not only that... she's a DUMB child tsundere. It certainly doesn't help that she spews this utterly illogical and sentimental mushycrap nonsense: " I don't like it that you talk bad about Anaru behind her back!" (What is this suppose to do? Incite a feeling of determination and nobility? That's great, nobody cares what you "like".) " we NEED her", etc ,etc, trying to not kill off more intelligence remembering more of her quotes. Not only her, but Anaru similarly says these cheesy drama phrases "You should be ashamed of yourself!" and Jintan, like a dumb dolt, nods and sulks; doesn't even stand up for himself. Luckily for this review, Jintan and Menma, has created the classic epitome of a cheesy and meaningless conversation at the 11 minute mark:
Menma (Tear): Go ask her! We need her!
Jintan: No.
Menma (Teary and tsundere angry): GOOOO
Jintan *reaction shot! *Surprised *Sulks: OK, let's go.
Dumbass.
I'm not wasting my time to watch an anime where crying angry little girls makes spineless wussy guys do degrading mushycrap friendship things. I can go to school tomorrow for that.
Enjoyment (1/10)
Frankly I never thought I could grade something lower than I graded MM! but life always suprises me... discontentedly and unpleasantly. Unlike MM!, Ano Hana didn't even have art going for it. The characters were sloppily done and the plot overall was bereft of interest and innovation. Although I didn't have high hopes for it to begin with, this anime was seriously disappointing and irritating. If you had hoped for some comedy in this anime, then you'd be woefully unfulfilled. There were times that comical moments could have appeared. When Menma randomly sat on Jintan's lap and Jintan flustered and turned red, I expected a humorous scene where Jintan makes a southpark >.< face and Menma turns around with a dumb and innocent look on her face and says "Jintan! Something is pressing against my butt and it's getting bigger!" Unfortunately that never happened, nor, in my opinion, will it ever happen. Ano Hana will just desperately try, without progress, to pursue that emotion-wrought, endearing sensation, ignoring the classical animation masterpiece techniques of humor, action, suspense, and...of course... fanservice.
Overall (2/10)
Ano Hana was made with an intent of incurring nostalgia, reminiscence and abstract reflection; however, the actual impact and payout of these efforts are near minuscule. There are other animes that do a much better job of reminiscence, and even some that does a superb job combining different entertainment aspects together. Ano Hana is not even close to that league. I will, however, concede one thing. Since this is review is based off of only 60% of the first episode, I understand that this anime could very well achieve the emotionally-purged pathos that it was initially meant to project. For people who think I cut this anime too short and didn't give it a chance: you're right, this review was semi-whimsical and I didn't give it a chance, but what's wrong with that? In life we don't do what's moral and right, we do what we want and what best satisfies ourself.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Apr 29, 2011
*Note* If you hate anything that doesn't have action and plot in it, turn away now. This will be your only warning before brain cells are forcibly obliterated by hours of non-stop chibi characters.
With that out of the way, those who remain may find some value in watching A-Channel. Like I said before, it has no action, no plot, and ultimately no fanservice (sorry "lover of lolis"). However, what it does have is essence. That sounds cheesy and all but that's probably the only word I can think of to describe it. A-Channel is simply about life; not only life, but the essence of
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life. How this may affect you mentally can certainly vary from person to person. I think the reason why this anime struck into me so deep is because, as a high school senior graduating in exactly 1 month, I will forever lose some opportunities of life. I will not experience Japanese highschools, highschool romance, and anything else related to anime school events ever again in my entire time here on Earth. These forever lost opportunities are certainly tragic, but there's really nothing we can do about it. Watching A-Channel gives me, perhaps, my last glimpse before I exit this period of my life of a lifestyle that I will never experience. Some people would like that, while others will hate being shown something they can never attain. Again it varies.
Story (4/10)
I'll be quite frank here, there is no story. The plot is something like a going-with-the-flow-of-events improvisation. Then again, no one would expect an anime about school life to really have a plot anyways. The story is about 4 high school girls: exasperating Nagi, quasi-yandere Tooru, airhead Run, and cute Yuuko. Tooru is especially attached to Run and enters the same high school as her. There, she meets Run's friends Nagi and Yuuko. The plot follows the 4 of them throughout their events in high school. Since Tooru is a grade below Run, Nagi, and Yuuko, there always appears to be some invisible barrier and tension between them. Along the way comes much humor, and even some really meaningful, reminiscent scenes. In addition, you can enjoy semi-yandere mode Tooru groping Yuuko's E-cups off screen if that brings you any pleasure. Of course the plot doesn't compare to some action shounen anime, but this will probably be the best you'll see in a shoujo school life anime.
Art (8/10)
Perhaps it's just that I don't like the constant chibi style, but I didn't find the art to be particularily attractive. One or two minutes of chibiness in an anime is ok, but to have 20 minutes of non stop circle eyes staring at me gives me the creeps. In addition, they even messed up beautiful Yuuko's eyes! RAGE. I don't want her to have the same eyes as Akihisa Yoshii-kun from Baka to Test, that's just freaking stupid! *Ahem. Anyways, past the somewhat mediocre drawings, there is certainly evidence of beautiful animation and scenery techniques. Movement and even some character positions are expressed fairly well and I am impressed-- enough to give an 8/10.
Sound (9/10)
Nothing to say really about the sound except that the sound quality was pretty nice. Some background music gets a bit repetitive and annoying, but that slight nuisance can be overlooked. What I really liked about the sound in A-Channel is that, in addition to the OP and ending, they bothered to have a section of each episode (usually 1-2 minutes) that is harmonized with a song about that particular episode. This shows exemplary dedication on the part of the sound directors and really accentuates the feelings conveyed through this anime-- the feeling of happiness, memories, and even nostalgia.
Character (8/10)
Oh boy characters. Tooru, a short and taciturn girl who has level 5 Yandere mode limit break on cooldown (when Yuuko is present, there is no cooldown), can be considered as the protagonist. Tooru has an...abnormal affection for Run, almost to the Yuri level. Run, on the other hand, is mostly clueless about how much she matters to Tooru. Then again, Run is mostly clueless about everything in this anime. She is that typical open, clumsy and airheadish female character seen in comedy animes. Nagi is the "freaking out" type of person. She freaks out, exaggerates and talk to herself a whole craplot. Then there's the awesome and amazing Yuuko. Something about straight, black, long-haired anime girls with nicely distributed bangs always gets to me, and Yuuko filled that place in this anime. Yuuko also happens to be the most timid and nice out of the four of them. The only fault I could find with her was her eyes.. grrrr.*facedesk...oh no no no no don't think about those eyes... *facedesk. These characters, although probably not the most unique and distinguished characters, fit this anime perfectly. The contrast between their personalities and habits really gives the story in A-Channel humor, relaxation and ultimately that (horrible) cozy feeling.
Overall (7/10)
I'll admit it. I was bored with this anime. But the fact that I realized there was a message much more meaningful than Tooru swing a bat around like a crazy yandere hidden in this anime compelled me to sit and watch. As a result, I believe that watching this anime now this is a memory that I will cherish later in life when watching this type of anime at that time wouldn't bring the same enjoyment or feelings.
I might get flamed for being a hypocrite when I always say I hate cozy, cute and lovey-dovey things/feelings but become overly sentimental about a boring anime about life. But really, I'm only sentimental about a few things in life. Shoot a puppy in front of me and I wouldn't even blink ( I might even smirk a bit. Heh, dead puppies), but take away a once-in-a-lifetime experience from me, and I wouldn't be too happy about that. Likewise, some people might say that the thought of this anime meaning any more than boring school life is utterly retarded. To those people I say: The message is there. Whether you decide to read it or not is your choice.
So, to people who are much more about the thinking, experiencing and dreaming aspects of anime, (or perhaps if you are like me, ending highschool with regrets), A-Channel will bring you to world of experience. To diehard action, romance fans who would kill for a decent plot, your time is better spent elsewhere.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 24, 2011
Even before I touched the play button on Infinite Stratos (IS), all I've heard about it was "wow so generic", "so boring T_T", "another one of those stupid harem ones". Screw what people think, but I still started watching with a rather pessimistic opinion. IS is generic, but what's so bad about being generic? Isn't the entire definition of being general the idea that it follows the popular and majority trend? Truthfully, an anime that is only accused of being generic doesn't provide ample and concrete evidence of being a bad anime. In fact, I believe that IS is progressing rather nicely. Despite the setback
...
from the uneventful first few episodes, the later episodes really suggest some exciting developments into this "generic" load. Nevertheless, before you read on, think about why you even watch anime. Is it only to avoid watching generic animes and, as a result, stuffing your brain full of random crap that you don't even like or are you truly watching anime for the enjoyments and benefits it gives, regardless of the peripheral labels and whatever's been said about it? Hopefully it's the latter, because if you chose the former, then there really isn't a point in reading on since I'm pretty sure you've already made up your mind about Infinite Stratos.
Story (5/10)
Despite the previous paragraph of me showering praises on IS, I'm getting out my flamethrower and shoop da whooping the story and setting. Seriously, the plot doesn't make any god dam sense. Infinite Stratos follows the life of Ichika, as he transfers to the Infinite Stratos (basically a mechanical body armor) Academy as the only guy since apparently only girls can use IS. There he meets a few childhood friends ( girls of course) and seduces a couple more distinguished students -- basically a harem type setting. When I first saw the mech stuff, I thought "crap, what a ripoff mating between code geass and gundam." Hey! We have these giant bigass robot suits and we're just going to fly around in them for fun! Achieving something with IS? Tehe no need for tha- OF COURSE YOU NEED A FOKIN STORY. Seriously, screw this plot. It's illogical and pitiful. This is where the "generic" accusation hits Infinite Stratos hard in the nuts (or somewhere else for girls). The lack of an adamant plot development, coupled with absolutely no innovation on the mecha aspect vehemently cripples the story potential of Infinite Stratos. Sometimes I feel like I'm just being pulled around randomly by IS. Suddenly there's this event, then there's that event, and etc... IS doesn't show the viewers the way it's heading, if it's even heading a way. For some viewers who are ravenously persistent for a bite of plot, Infinite Stratos has left them to starve in the crappy 3-D world.
Art (10/10)
The art... what can I say. I guess animes have large budgets nowadays because the art is absolutely fantastic. Ahh...Charlotte...she's drawn so cute and so awesomely 2-D styled that it really makes me feel better watching the parts with her in it and makes me feel nicer towards the entire series. If you take an incredibly obsessive preference in art like me, then Infinite Stratos will not disappoint you in that aspect. Prepare those pencils and papers, and the mouse on the pause key.
Character (9/10)
Everytime I decide to watch an anime under the harem label, I prepare myself for immutable facepalms and headdesks at how pathetic the male character will be. Lucky for my brain cells, Ichika didn't kill as many of them as other harem animes would have (It's ridiculous how much calculus I forgot after watching certain parts of To-Love-Ru). Ichika is a bit spineless at times but overall he has the right spirit. The problem with having that typical "I'll protect you" spirit is that it's overused to the point where they forcefully yell it out every, oh let's say 5 minutes. And of course, that'll cause this bunch of lovey-dovey mushy crap to magically appear and ruin whatever positive feelings I have towards the anime. Ichika had less of those experiences, but nevertheless, he is still lacking the standard of determination, seriousness, and independence that I look for in male protagonists. As for the girls, all of them (except for a few of them when they are in their super WTF tsundere mode) were decent and tolerable. Laura and Charlotte were probably my favorites. Laura, for the groundbreaking determination she shows later that's rarely seen in harem types, and Charlotte simply because she's so cute. Everytime Charlotte says "Ichika, you pervert" with that shy look on her face, my infinite quantum black hole of a heart melts a little. I would have given the characters a 10/10, but Ichika's lack of skill and an adamant personality, and the other average characters unfortunately lowers the aggregate score to an 8/10.
Enjoyment (8/10)
I certainly do enjoy IS very much. It gives me the feelings of living in such an academy and the excitement of endeavoring in those events (both unfulfillable in the mundane 3-D world). However, one thing that I find IS to be lacking in is consistency. During one fight, Ichika is suddenly god-hack mode powerful. In the next fight, he's pathetically weak and a pushover. This inability to adequately address his skill level on a stable standard shows mediocre planning and over-exaggeration on idea conveyance. Another hole in the enjoyment of Infinite Stratos is the predictability of some battles, and how incredibly annoying it is to always have Ichika lose the battle when he's about to win because of some retarded reasons like "running out of energy". Overlooking these two flaws, Infinite Stratos can be very entertaining for some personality of people.
Overall (7/10)
Infinite Stratos has amazing art and pretty good characters, however, it only gets an average 7. It's tragic to see an anime with a high potential of proving itself despite being criticized for being "generic" only to fail miserably with the lack of a concrete plot. It's truly tragic. If the producers only spent a bit more time to develop a plot for IS, I believed that it could have well received higher scores and reviews. However to me, it seem like the producers kind of just half- assed their way through, trying to make an exciting action packed harem type anime, without actually having to plan for an exciting action packed harem type anime. You know what they say about life. "Nothing is free".
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 3, 2011
Even at first glance, Fortune Arterial seems... shakey... generic. Whoever said "don't judge a book by its covers" probably didn't look in the right book section because, indeed, Fortune Arterial is shakey and very generic. The experience of watching Fortune Arterial is comparable to eating rotten food (not that you would ever do it voluntarily)- the experience is horrible for the first half, then after eating it for a while your taste buds already dead so you feel that it's passable. After you finish eating all the rotten food, you look back and ask yourself "what the hell just happened?" Not all of the episodes
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were bad, just a majority of them - pointless episodes that you wonder "why the hell are they showing me these things". In addition, the lolwtfBBQ ending really didn't do much to improve the standing of this anime in my eyes.
Story (5/10)
The story is my biggest problem with this anime. Simply put, the plot doesn't make sense. The story follows Kouhei after he transfers to a private academy. On the first day, he meets the Vice-president Erika, who strangely alienates him by suddenly stepping away from him. Later he learns that the both the prez and vp are vampires. I think, at this point, ok a generic vampire school one, I'll just put my hopes at that. Yet, surprisingly it fell even short of what low expectations I put onto it. For seriously the first half of the season, nothing happens. Take my word, absolutely nothing happened. They went shopping, talking, tea blah blah blah. Then for the second half of the season, it seems like the producers were smoking crack, trying to fit in everything into the remaining measly 6 episodes. This shows very faulty planning and poor organization. Certainly it would be wise to introduce the plot through the season, maybe even hinting at it for the first few seasons if they don't want to jump right into it, but none of that happened in the beginning. The characters kinda just shopped their asses away and then worked their asses off for the remaining episodes trying to do everything that was written. Truth be told, I skipped parts through the episodes in first half of the season because it bored me to the point where I'd write English essay sometimes instead of watching it. And I didn't feel bad about it. The second major let down was when I become very interested in it starting at the 7th episode and it began to build suspense. I expected a stunning ending.. and all I got was a cheap generic one leaving myself to wonder "wait.. what the fok happened in these 12 episodes?". Grr. the horrible plot makes me angry just by thinking about it. After 12 episodes, almost nothing happened and the things that did happen were relatively insignificant and beyond my care.
Art (8/10)
Art was probably the only thing that matters that significantly raised the score. The art is good, nothing exceptional, but pretty to look at and doesn't interfere with enjoyment of the story (albeit the meagerness of enjoyment). Besides, one of the characters in the end looked so much like Yami, so I found that pretty awesome.
Character (5/10)
ugh... characters. What can I say? Kouhei's dense, retarded and probably a fallible species of those generic harem type males. It comes to the point where you're almost yelling at the screen asking how he could be any more oblivious. Oops she's screaming in pain and falls down, knocking over and breaking stuff... BUT she says she's ok with a pained expression... so SHE MUST BE OK :D. yeah that's how "smart" Kouhei is. Nevertheless, the producers had no problem portraying him to the level of goody2shoe that even Mary Sue would get annoyed at his actions. You'd hear the word "Gomen" about 5 times for every time you see something enjoyable. Besides Kouhei's pathetic personality, I find that the majority of the characters weren't too likable or significant. The manipulative and arrogant president, the overprotective secretary, the loud obnoxious loli... perhaps the other quiet loli was the only character that I didn't dislike. What's more is that over 80% of the anime was simply the lazy president forcing Kouhei to join the student council and forcing him to plan events. After 7 episodes of Kouhei with papers around, typing and bowing to the store owners for their support in the next whatever event, one tends to get bored. Very bored.Meanwhile the prez is trying to get Kouhei and Erika together all the time for some unknown reason revealed later. Nevertheless, nothing happens between those two. If you were hoping for a nice summer romance, well look for somewhere else. The lack of actual love in the plot sticks out like a sore thumb in the pile of "we believe you" "you're important" and "not only I, the school needs you!" cheesy crap.
Overall (6/10)
After reading all these vehement criticism of Fortune Arterial that I wrote up until now, I'd feel bad to simply leave it at that without explanations for improvements. There were some very good things about this anime: stirring scenes that incites emotion, suspense keeping the viewer watching, deep character developments, however, animes hardly ever succeed with just that. What let me down the most was the ending. I was so hooked on the series from episode 7-11 that I thought a good ending would amend for the crap first half of the season; yet, I was very disappointing by the ending and it's inability to introduce something innovative. Not even at the standard of just generic, the ending reverted it so absolutely nothing important happened at all. If the producers ever make a second season, these are some aspects they should consider.
1) Better organization and connection of plot and events so they make sense
2) Cut the useless school scenes and focus on the actual plot. Many anime attempts to combine school and ulterior plot, but unfortunately few succeed at that ordeal.
3) Reduce the episodes spent on developing the history of characters that didn't play a single role in the actual plot.
I really hope that if another season comes out, it would be a season where the characters in it could actually feel proud being in it. Call me weird but I sometimes feel sorry for the anime characters being in an anime that was just skimmed through and thrown away. They unfairly carry the failure of the producers who made it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 3, 2011
This review is late and way pass the airing date so I don't expect many people to turn to this. After going on anime hiatus for school work for a few months, I started only recently to catch up on things. After finishing Yosuga no Sora last night, I felt I was obligated to write a review for it. And rest assured, it is relatively unfair and impotent to compare this with... let's say Highschool of the Dead since they can't possibly be judged on the same basis, I will rate it on an impartial scale for romance/harem types.
Yosuga no Sora is an anime based
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off a h- game. The anime is "autobussed" which means that the episodes are divided so each female protagonist gets their own arc. Now at this stage I'm convinced half of the people reading this review who haven't watched it yet are going to stop reading and not watch this simply because it's "another one of those cheap knock-off harem animes based off some game that no one's heard about". I suppose it wouldn't really matter if I told those people that what they think can't possibly be any further than the truth. Yes Yosuga no Sora is based off something, but that doesn't diminish the value of it. I found the story very detailed, thought out and with massive amounts of emphasize on questioning human morality and feelings. I hate lovey mushy crap relationship animes, but even so, the exquisite nature which this anime was presented left me speechless when the last moments of episode 12 ticked away.
Story (9/10)
Yosuga no Sora starts with two twins, Haruto and Sora riding a silent train back to a rural town. After the death of their parents in a car accident, Haru, the older brother, in order to care for his fragile little sister, Sora, decides it would be best for them to move back to the town where their grandparents lived, where they experienced so many reminiscent childhood memories hidden away in their conscience. After introducing the female characters, all of who are Haruto's classmates, the story continues to each person's arc, detailing the events that would lead Haruto to end up falling in love (and "love in the flesh") that particular character. Although it should be noted that each arc was very detailed and filled with background story, this failed to leave a deep impression on me. I was so bored with some of the arcs and their overemphasis on feelings and emotion that I even skipped through some parts. I felt bad about it but, hell, I did it anyways. What really made me appreciate the story was Sora's arc at the very end (sorry. only spoiler). The presentation of this arc was what really made it worthwhile to watch to the end. It's common knowledge that incestuous relationships are social taboos; yet, Sora and Haru shared such a close bond that I even wanted them to be together, above all other characters. Haru's dedication to protect Sora's weak body, Sora's determination to be with Haru, her only family left, really challenges the viewer to think about the rules imposed by society- What is right? what is wrong? Even though Haru's once close friends become bitter and angry at his defiance of morality, he perseveres and is willing to face the consequences of his actions. This spur of radiance at the end is what pulled the story up to a 9/10.
Art (10/10)
The style and quality of the art is top tier. Since most of the anime is plagued by tragedies, suspense and melancholy; the art reflects this personality. The characters are drawn with the perfect blend of reality and anime. There are no cases of art that contradict the mood. The entire anime flows with perfect synchronization between story and style. But to mitigate the hunger for chibi of some artists and viewers, this anime even devotes an entire short part at the end of each episodes. Drawn. Simply. Chibi.
Sound (10/10)
It is rare for a section to be devoted to sound, but I feel that a large part of what made Yosuga no Sora so successful was the harmonic flow of the musical composition. Some animes nowadays fail to understand the importance of music in the animation process. Music decides the magnitude of the impact a feeling conveyed in the story can have. Music makes one smile, laugh or cry and the music producers of Yosuga no Sora deserve grand kudos for grasping and using this concept. Yosuga doesn't have special endings or a wide vary of compositions like other animes, but, it doesn't need them. Quality, not quantity is what matters. What Yosuga no Sora does have is one particularly stirring and elegant piece of melancholy composition that plays in the thoughtful and sorrowful scenes. The melody invites the viewer to imagine, to dream, and to picture the sunset sky like the characters in the anime would in order too feel their burdens and emotions. Such a unique experience is simply rare to find in the fast-paced anime evolution of today.
*Note: if you don't believe me that sound is important, turn off the sound in Yosuga and play deathmetal or some random vocaloid song. You won't get the same experience.
Character (8/10)
Yosuga no Sora's greatest achievement in terms of characters is its deviation from mundane precedents. When someone thinks of the lead male protagonist of a harem/romance type, he/she immediately thinks about some pathetic, backboneless sorry excuse for a man who's constantly beaten around by an arrogant tsundere female. I applaud those people for believe that because they are right. However, Yosuga no Sora does not have this annoying characterization. Haru is nice but he isn't backboneless. He does what he believes is best but once a line is crossed, he stands his ground. At the same time, Sora is a bit tsundere, but she's not to the level of tsundere that makes me headwall so hard I fall unconscious. Deeper in the story, I find that Sora's tsundereness (epic new word?) leaves relatively quickly, leaving the personality of a taciturn and cute girl who wants to be together with Haru. Later in the anime, she even attempts to take care of Haru by doing cooking and cleaning- a development that no tsundere girl will ever take in any other anime. With this being said, I believe that Haru and Sora were the starlets in this anime. They represent how characters in romance animes should be, not the uber "YOU PERVERT UGLY PIG GOING TO BEAT YOU SENSELESS but I secretly love you" tsundere girl (seriously, anime girls nowadays are climbing to ridiculous levels of tsundere). Unfortunately, the rest of the cast in the anime fall short Sora's and Haru's level. I found those characters relatively boring and with mediocre design. I was disappointed in the arcs of the other characters and the cheesiness in some of their conversation scenes.
Overall (9/10)
As seriously one of the best and few romance types I've watched, Yosuga no Sora deserves the widespread acclamation. From innovative personality developments, to detailed plot presentations, to musical pieces that tempt me to pull out my violin in order to practice and play it, Yosuga no Sora epitomizes how a romance anime should be. If the producers were to make the other arcs and characters more interesting, I believe that Yosuga no Sora would well define the next generation of harem/romance anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 12, 2010
As probably the greatest hater of mushy crap romance and annoying bitchiness, I wasn't exactly too thrilled to dive into the unknown pages of Kimi no Iru Machi, a romance manga. But what I ended up experiencing was something far beyond what I expected. I sincerely believe that from the plethora of vocabulary words I know, only one can truly describe this manga- EPIC. The author really knows how to make this story epic. He has twisted the plot in every single way to make the story exciting and to keep the readers on their toes. This deep story mixed with outstanding art comes out
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as a unique masterpiece.
Story (10/10)
The story is one of the most intricate plots you'll ever find in romance manga. It centers around Haruto Kirishima, a sensitive boy living in the rural Hiroshima region, and his school/ romantic life. Unexpectedly one day, a girl called Yuzuki Eba appears at his doorway and begins living with him. His long-termed unrequited love for fellow classmate Nanami Kanzaki isn't helped either by Eba's arrival since Nanami constantly misunderstands Haruto and Yuzuki's relationship. At first, Haruto is baffled and annoyed by Yuzuki's cheery and idiotic personality, but he soon begins to realize the feelings for Yuzuki. The story doesn't just end with a happy ending or a sadface rejection, it thrives. Unimaginable things happen that boldly twist the future for these characters. It's this deep understanding of what keeps readers reading that makes Kimi no Iru Machi so addictive and so different from the rest of the mundane romance mangas that only seek to build pointless suspense solely from staged confessions and illogical rejections.
Art (10/10)
The art is a mix between reality and chibi, yielding the ultimate manga art. It's the kind of art that induces the readers to see the characters and setting right besides them in real life (without the horribly ugly details or, on the other hand, the "my eyes are 3/4 of my head" scariness). In addition, countless new girls are introduced and each of them have a distinct visual feature. This keeps the organization of the plot in perfect order... all while enjoying the cuteness of Eba.
Characters (10/10)
The first thing that struck me was how real the characters are. When I was reading this, my mind could imagine such a person in existence. The things they do, they thoughts they think, and their views of problems- it's all just too real. The characters are certainly very unique. Haruto, although completely dense and illogical sometimes, is suddenly very assertive and justified other times. Eba, although very happy, cute, and nice sometimes, is suddenly whorish, selfish and annoying in the next page. One second I'm cheering Eba on and the next I'm cussing at her for her bitchiness. It's that kind of emotional power that the characters impose. I can never guess what's on the next page, and I really do want to know. This professional development of characters that draw readers into the world highlights many of the reasons that make Kimi no Iru Machi such an outstanding manga.
Enjoyment (10/10)
As soon as I read into the 10th page, it had me. I usually avoid romance manga at all costs but here I was reading one non-stop. It has that kind of power. Humor from Eba's idiocy, anxiety from confessions, support from Haruto's resolution, and happiness from good events are only a few emotions that I felt in the massive emotional purge present. It was almost like the author could control how you felt in each situation and made you feel different to the extreme in each coming page. This was something I really enjoyed to take my mind of pointless real life things.
Overall (10/10)
If I have ever read a romance manga, this would be the best. No questions asked. From suddenly joy to bitter disparage, I felt like I was in the story- I felt like I was there. I was always in there, cheering on Haruto silently, thinking how cute Eba was or how tragic (reference) situations had to turn out. The author's masterful comprehension of suspense and the deep roots of love/ romance is reflected onto Kimi no Iru Machi. I highly suggest that if even if you don't read romance novels, give this a try. If you do read romance novels, then this should be on the very top of your list.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 27, 2010
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai, The World God Only Knows, is an anime that centers on an otaku gamer's life. When I first found this series, I researched on it a bit on Wikipedia, found it somewhat unimpressive in plot, character and art, and didn't even bother reading the manga. I have to say that I was wrong to judge this series by merely the front cover of its Wikipedia article. After the anime came out and my anime savvy friend directly recommended this to me, I found that I was drawn into the story, something that rarely happens for an ardent critic like me.
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This anime aims to set a standard for humor and adventure, and I believe that it achieves both.
Art (9/10)
The art is great. Although I've seen better and more creatively drawn animes, with regard to the context of this anime, the art is drawn very appropriately. For example, during the comedy scenes, the art is drawn chibi but with some elements that further resonates the humor, whether it be a small action or item in the background. The art never hinders your enjoyment of this anime and even improves the experiences with elegantly drawn characters like Elsie.
Story (9/10)
The World God Only Knows is about the life of a 2-D "Game God" Keima. He is known throughout the web as the conqueror of all visual novel, bishoujo games. One day he unknowingly signs a contract with the devil, mistakenly taking the contract as a challenge to his Otaku God position, to help a demon girl Elsie collect escaped souls from hell that hide within the empty space in girls' hearts. Should he not comply with the contract, both he and Elsie will lose their heads. Literally.To exorcist the evil soul, he must make the girl fall in love with him and kiss him. The only problem is that everyone in real life calls him an otaku and avoids him for his addiction to 2-D girls and games. This story incorporates comedy right into the base and still embodies an objective to be achieved throughout the course of the series... all while giving the viewers some LOLs in the process.
Sound (8/10)
Although I do not usually comment on the sounds, I did notice that certain things were outstanding. This anime does not have a particularly "addictive" opening and ending theme, but it has creativeness that far surpasses some addictive-themed animes. In episode 4, there is an extra opening and ending that really personifies the storyline and shows diligent planning that went along with it. This ability to creatively adapt to the content of each episode with compatible musical compositions is what really separates this anime from others and also earns the music producers some well-deserved kudos.
Characters (10/10)
The characters in this anime are exemplary. Keima, especially, was someone who really stood out from the mundane, long list of modern anime characters. Although he doesn't embody the cold, taciturn personality that I usually look for in male protagonists, he is clearly distant from the level of backboneless "male" (sometimes I really do question their gender) protagonists that get beat around by the females. What I like most about Keima is that he establishes his ideals and is determined to do what he believes in. He overcomes many embarrassments and obstacles and always seems to plan for the worst (I hope some people in real life would learn that). Other times his dedicated assertions, like "Life is just a crappy video game" and "Real life girls suck. 2-D girls are better", were really similar to mine and gave me some lulz. As someone who likes to relate to male protagonists, I really felt that I could connect with Keima and understand his ideals - part of the reason why this anime drew my attention. Elsie, the pretty female protagonist, was also a very likable character. She embodies the "kawaaiii" personally and really tries her best to help Keima (despite the fact that some efforts have opposite effects). She is never arrogant or unpleasant and always tries to care for Keima to act like his "little sister" (although there definitely are some love feelings between them).
Overall (9/10)
The World God Only Knows is a great anime overall. It combines humor and adventure successfully into a masterpiece that many previous animes have tried and failed to attain. For someone who had such cynical and critical attitudes before watching, it took only 10 minutes of the first episode to turn me and my ideals 180 degrees into zealous enjoyment. If you're looking for a funny anime that still has a good story played out by likable characters, The World God Only Knows is definitely an anime that you should put on your list.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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