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Reviews of shows that haven't finished are utterly pointless. They are only good for a couple of weeks at most, and of no use to anyone once the show is finished.

And yet I sit here, writing this review. I am fully aware that this review will become useless waste of space, it is inevitable, but having seen the series average MAL-score of 7.6, I decided to make a statetment:

Nichijou is fucking awesome.

The animation is outta this world (at least as far as slice of life is concerned) and the execution is flawless. The timing of the jokes is so, so good, and the physical nature ... of almost every scene really floats my boat. I love the characters, I love the voice actors, I love the music and I love that goat guy's butler. This is the show that could actually beat Azumanga Daioh at its home turf, and damn, I've longed to say that.

This score should by no means be viewed as final. It is work in progress, like the series itself (I usually don't rate unfinished shows). But at this point in time, at episode two, Nichijou has done a wonderful job of launching itself as a top dog of the 2011 spring season. Hell, maybe even the entire year!

If Quentin Tarantino ever decided to make an anime, odds are it would be very much like Bakemonogatari. Just like Pulp Fiction, Bakemonogatari mixes great characters and large chunks of well acted everyday-dialogue, with sudden bursts of ultra violence. A combination that is simply excellent.

Truth be told, though, the story itself isn't all that great. It's arc-based (I'm not a fan of obvious arcs in general) and very harem like, as Koyomi Araragi soon rounds up his own ragtag team of beautiful school girl misfits of varying ages. They all have personal problems of a more supernatural nature, and Araragi is simply too considerate to ... let them be.

Bakemonogatari's brightest stars are its clear cut visuals and music, but also the way it simply refuses to use common storytelling techniques to deliver its narrative. The bright colors and the original camera work makes for a very interesting piece of viewing, and even though some dialogue drags on a bit too long, the series is still a joy to watch, frame to frame.

Bakemonogatari is simply a must watch for every anime fan. It's the closest thing to pure art I've seen on a screen for a long time.

Pointless.

That is the one word that sums up Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei. Even before I started watching this, I questioned whether the excellent Higrashi no Naku Koro ni Kai really needed a sequel. The answer is no, it doesn't.

What saves Rei from the chasm of utter disappointment is the two comedy episodes, as those serve to tell the story of what happened after Kai, when Rika finally had escaped the cycle of endless deaths. Those two episodes - the first and the last - are great in their own way, as they serve as a sort of "reward" to us viewers. Fanservice, ... if you will.

However, the three middle episodes, falls short. The premise is promising indeed - Rika finds herself in yet another world, where everything is very different - but the arc simply do not pay off. The majority of the time spent in this dimension is pure exposition - talk, talk, talk and very little action. In fact, when it's finally becoming serious, the arc ends and leaves us viewers filling in the holes. I feel robbed of somehting that could have been both very disturbing and very great, much like the first season of the series.

Sure, we get a nice little message in the end that serves as an ultimate ending. But the holes in between are simply too big to be overlooked, and my final impression is that Rei needed more time, as well as more balls from the creators.

What happened to the show's initial focus on insanity and violence? I really miss that.