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*sigh*

You know, I’m starting to lose all hope when it comes to romance / slice of life anime as they tend to either go in a certain way: they try to be outrageously funny and/or dramatic but it ends up being only one or the other and I’m left cold feeling that have doing nothing remarkable or distinctive to make me care about the characters, what they go through and the story as a whole and if you wondered what title made me like this, let’s say that I’m all out of LOVE for this genre. But, then, there’s Toradora and I have heard mixed ... things about the series (few either good than bad) but I don’t have the biggest expectations for the show.

Despite Ryuji Takasu’s gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent. Class rearrangements on his second high school year put him together with his best friend, Yusaku Kitamura, and his hidden crush, Minori Kushieda. Along with these two comes Kushieda’s best friend, Taiga Aisaka. Her delicate appearance contrasts with her brutal personality. Secretly in love with Kitamura, Taiga agrees to help Ryuji with his love interest as long as he helps her get closer to hers.

Now, as first it may seem like this is going to be some typical love story where the main guy tries to get with this girl by the help of the girl’s said friend and that said friend wants to hook up with the main guy’s best friend and then it turns out that those two might fall in love with each other. BUT…..it actually ends up being more than that. The show illustrates that love is a complicated thing and if something comes crumbling down, no one is going to be left unscathed emotionally, no matter how well you try to hide it. Originally, I was drawn by the comedic aspects of the show as I did had myself a great laugh throughout the earlier episodes but once it gets into the dramatic episodes later on, I was hooked and invested in knowing how the characters will progress throughout. One aspect of the show never overshadowed the other as both the comedy and drama are rightfully balanced without a hint of overexerted awkwardness in the writing.

I really appreciated how the characters in the show remain to be interesting and likable despite being some clichéd character-types at first but they are portrayed as realistic characters and the show equally get in-depth with them as the show goes on. At first, I thought Taiga was just going that annoying tsundere type that I loathe in anime so much, but eventually, she turns out to be an endearing character and reasons why she is what she is (i.e. coming from a broken home, parents don’t give a damn) and how she does stand up for her friends various times and is straight to the point honest. Ryuuji is somebody that isn’t a spineless male lead nor an off-the-wall perverted idiot lead, but a level-headed genuine character that doesn’t come off as Gary Stu-ish or manufactured as he does have his inner struggles to challenge through. Yusaku, to me, can be often funny and OK but he wasn’t really that important of a character to me to get fully invested but he does have a moment in that in the latter half of the series. But the ones to get me fully invested are Minori and Ami. For Minori, she does seems like the energetic best friend character with a nice girl personality that I really did like at first but she really progresses from that as she show signs of her not confronting her true feelings that she seems like a coward even though she does care for her friends. Ami on the other hand, I never would have expect to like someone as her being a bitch-in-sheep’s clothing character but honestly she wants more in friends than just having followers and admirers and while often she does pick on Taiga, she does care if anything were to happen to her.


J.C. Staff animated this production and it was a great effort from their part. However, this is nothing I would call new but more of the standard fare I expect from them as the artwork is gorgeous and the movement is performed smoothly and fluid within the context of the show. Character designs are also much to the standard of many anime characters but it is nothing over-the-top or fan service related but manageable.

For the music portion, “Pre-Parade”, the 1st opening theme performed by the main three female leads (Rie Kugimiya, Yui Horie, and Eri Kitamura) does set the mood for the series’ first half and I got to say, this is a decent track with some small flaws in it like it does sound like it’s over-produced in some areas but I actually like the track enough to not skip it. The 2nd opening theme, “silky heart”, also appropriately set the tone during the latter half of the series remarkably acceptable. The rest of the music delivers the dramatic moments spot-on as did the ending themes, “Vanilla Salt” and “Orange”, which sounds like ingredients for a cake than a song.

Now when I say this show was a surprise to me being good, there is also another surprise.


THIS SHOW ACTUALLY HAS AN ENGLISH DUB!!!!


No, really. This show is licensed by NIS America and normally they do sub-only anime releases and this is their first English dub release and also with the dub being done by Bang Zoom Entertainment and with director Alex Von David on the helm. I’m also proud to say that this is a damn good—no, a damn great dub!! Mainly, it’s because BZ is doing a slice-of-life show for once since recently they have only been dubbing action anime titles for some time and I think the dub shows off the VA’s acting range a bit more. Erik Scott Kimerer and Cassandra Lee Morris give out great performances as Ryuuji and Taiga. Johnny Yong Bosch was rather fine as Yusaka, usually the standard from him but he did his part exceptionally. Personally I think the standouts goes to both Christine Marie Cabanos as Minori and Erika Harlacher as Ami. Cabanos unquestionably delivers more to her acting range as Minori during the dramatic moments as well as her comedic scenes. Most of her comedic scenes did felt like a preview of what to see her as Mako in Kill La Kill (which I’m dying to see in the English dub, BTW). Harlacher sounds very natural as Ami, maintaining both the bitchiness and reasonableness in the character without feeling too overbearing or over the top and this is practically the actress’ best role yet.

FINAL VERDICT: Toradora is a complete surprise from me. Here I was expecting to be some run of the mill cliché romance anime but I got something more from this. Everything from the characters, the basic storyline and the soundtrack was executed well despite being plain on paper. Has this made me look at slice of life romantic anime in a different light? Maybe. This show gave me hope for this genre of anime and I hope future titles can learn from this show and how to make me care for the story, the characters and how they’re able to manage that. Toradora, you are definitely a title that I recommend to people. I should’ve never doubted you.

We return to the world of Black Butler, to see what adventures may be continue among Sebastian and Ciel and…..wait, what? Season 2 isn’t just about them? They have some new characters? Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus?

OK. They may not seem so bad. A good change of characters could help the show.

*after watching a few episodes*

Or not.

In late-nineteenth century England, one year and three months after the dramatic conclusion of the original series, Kuroshitsuji II introduces a new butler and young master. The sadistic yet cheerful Alois Trancy has faced some harsh times. He was kidnapped as a baby, and was forced to work in ... a village as a slave. Gradually, he lost his parents, his best friend, and everyone he knew. Alois eventually returned home and became the head of his mansion, but seemed to exhibit some strange behavior ever since. Even more curiously, he returned with Claude Faustus, an enigmatic, emotionless butler with unfathomable talent….


OK…..I want to get this out of the way as soon as possible. I hate Alois Trancy. I hate him and his guts. If I was in that show, I’d be the first one to kill him because he is that insufferable of a character, he’s basically who I thought Ciel would’ve been in the first season: A spoiled, sadistic, bratty, creepy-ass little boy and while they explain his backstory and how messed up he is, it doesn’t excuse the bullshit insanity he causes throughout the series. Hell, in the first episode, he gauges Hannah’s (his demon maid) eye out and he keeps torturing her throughout the series. I really felt bad for that character (Yes, I felt bad for the demon maid!!) yet she stills shows compassion for the little shit. Oh, and Claude…..I take him as ‘meh’. I’m not calling him the proto-Sebastian but they are sometimes I think they are match evenly, even though Claude can be a bit creepy sometimes (and that’s toward Ciel). Also, I felt like the chemistry between Ciel and Sebastian lessened here than the first season, saying “he’s nothing more than a butler”. That could be him masking his true feelings but I thought we were over that already when Season 1 concluded.

As for the story, not really that interesting but it does stick to one narrative being that Alois and Claude wants Ciel’s soul and to kill Sebastian and I couldn’t really care less about the story as into the 2nd episode, I was mostly like, “What the hell happened? I thought you two weren’t around anymore?” but then again, after seeing Alois in the first episode, I was relieved that those two were back again and the plot doesn’t linger on to those other two.

I haven’t got much to say about animation except that it is quite the same as the first season, which isn’t a bad thing because the animation and art A-1 Pictures provided was stunning but I will say for character design, did they even try to not make Claude look like a clone of Sebastian? I would sometimes get confused with those two when they are on screen together or even separate.


Musically, the only opening theme for the show, “Shiver” by The Gazette was actually quite good once going into the show and I never once skipped the theme or opening sequence. The ending song, “Bird” by Yuya Matsushita was also just okay, too and if you want to know if the Kalafina song was my favorite, then you’re right because it actually was my favorite. Yes, I happen to like the group Kalafina. The music score overall was fine.


As for the dub performances, they were quite the same as the first season as J. Michael Tatum does shine again as Sebastian and Brina Palencia as Ciel but enter the two new players, Luci Christian as Alois Trancy and she does play the role of a despicable little brat very well and Jason Douglas as Claude was also very decent in his part. It does remind me of Tatum’s performance but everything about Claude reminds me of Sebastian.


FINAL VERDICT: Black Butler II is……very much of a step down from the first season. I can see why some people did not like this season but I don’t completely hate it. The writing just seems more fan fiction-like while some of the rest did stay the same and that could be for the best. It also seems for fans, this season is quite 50/50 for some of them. Some like it, others don’t. Would I recommend it though? Well….maybe as a standalone or alternate universe of Black Butler maybe but not a continuation from Season 1.

OK, to me, it does look like an anime/manga series that I see all the fan girls going gaga over and I’m not saying that “Oh, only girls will love this!!”, although I do know 2 girls that liked this series/books but I can see some guys liking this as well. I’ve been noticing that a lot in most recent anime, one example being Hetalia and I did see some good appeal to the series, although there was some backlash against it and Tumblr……yep, that Tumblr (I know that fan art people be putting on there). You’ll know sooner or later. Anyway, if you know ... me well enough is that I’m willing to watch something like this with an open mind when I have the time and luckily, this is that time.

In Victorian-era London, on the night of Ciel Phantomhive's tenth birthday a fire destroyed his manor and killed both of his parents. In a moment of death Ceil strikes a deal with a demon, his soul in exchange for revenge. This demon becomes his butler and calls himself by name of Sebastian Michaelis, to protect and serve Ciel until the deal has been completed. One month after the fire Ciel returns from being missing, with his new butler Sebastian. Ceil is now the head of the Phantomhive corporation, handling all business affairs as well as the work as the Queen of England’s guard dog and looking for his parents murders. One of the noble families of England—Phantomhive—has a butler, Sebastian Michaelis. He has unquestionably perfect knowledge, manners, talent with materials, martial arts and much more. But for some reason, he serves a 12-year-old master...

Well, for the story of it, the plot really doesn’t kick in until a few episodes into the show and you do sense the dark and mature tone of the show from the looks of it along with the hilarity that can sometimes gel into it, but that’s if it works and when it doesn’t, it feels like it tries too hard on the comedic side. Let me explain this more in a positive and negative light.

For positives, the mystery drama aspect does excel as we do learn about some of the characters by only by a small margin, even to some characters that doesn’t get showcased as much and the detective arcs are the most intriguing element of the series and they managed to keep it as a reasonable amount of episodes and not overflow it. It shows that the story and characters are more in the grey area.

The negative is while I do like some of the comedy in the show, however, if not used effectively, it can totally crash and burn and left with a “WTF” look on your face, especially when it involves several of the minor characters.


Character-wise, I do find the two leads Sebastian Michaelis and Ciel Phantomhive to be some titillating characters in the show with Sebastian being a suave and cool character and Ciel who you may think might be a spoiled brat but not really; he’s actually likable than what people describe him to me and I really got into most of his storyline. Sadly, as good as those characters are, I can’t say the same to the other supporting characters. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are actually decent characters (like Madam Red, who I actually cared for) but they aren’t that developed all the way through.

The animation…….hey, A-1 Pictures, you didn’t manage to screw up this time and the art is actually good in here with the Victorian England style to it. Some of the action animation to it is remarkably decent although it does show its budget during the comedic elements of the show and yes, the main leads do look bishonen, something to give the fangirls (and some men, too – whatever sexual orientation they got) to swoon about. Overall, it is the standard to most anime and it does a good job with it.

The music is rather fine…..Taku Iwasaki does a fine job with the score and while he really isn’t someone that capture my attention on scores, except for a few anime (namely The R.O.D series, Gurren Lagann and Soul Eater), he can make the score fit within the tone of the series with any moment delivered. The opening theme is good and find it to be listenable and the 1st ED song was meh, I didn’t really care for it that much but the second ED song….which was sung by Kalafina w/ Yuki Kaijura on there…..that was a much improvement as they went along with music.


The FUNimation dub is 50/50, as most of the performances were great, even excellent to say the least especially when doing it with British accents but when it’s bad, oh god, it is awful. On the positives, J. Michael Tatum delivers one hell of a performance (see what I did there?) as Sebastian as he does have that smooth gentlemen sound to him and it fits. Another good performance goes to Lydia Mackay for playing Madam Red for a brief and limited time. Brina Palencia as Ciel is rather fine than good, not a performance that I’ve noticed right away but there was that in here but not in a good way and yes, I’m talking about Monica Rial as Mey-Rin. Granted, I like Rial and her voice acting but in here, Mey-Rin sounds grating and annoying. It’s basically somebody trying to imitate a cockney British accent and they tried their best and it backfired. Overall, the dub is alright but nothing I would call remarkable.

FINAL VERDICT: Black Butler (Season 1) is a decent show with a tone that can be inconsistent sometimes but doesn’t go into a trainwreck and the comedic tone does actually work with the mysterious and dramatic tone. It’s nothing I would do an impulse buy but it is worth seeing to know what the show is about. I say give this a chance.

So……Shinbo……you are a tough egg to crack. No, really, I think he’s that one anime director that I just don’t get. I mean, as you all know one of the series he directed and I liked was Madoka Magica but then again, it’s more of the writing of Madoka I liked than the direction. Other Shinbo works……they either seem too tough to grasp at first glance (any of the Monogatari series) or confusing as all hell (recently Mekaku City Actors) or just stuff that seems very creepy (Dance in the Vampire Bund) and he does have this style of his that is similar to Tim ... Burton (at least that’s what I think) and it has been since he started doing more of his work with SHAFT after this particular anime.


After being stabbed in the chest by his mother, Kyosuke Date returns from the dead to find out he has a twin sister named Runa, and the ability to transform into the amazingly strong, powerful and dangerous superhuman mutant known as the SoulTaker. As he seeks out his twin sister, he is being pursued by the strange mutant doctors and nurses of the Hospital, led by his own father, Richard Vincent, as well as the evil Kirihara corporation, led by Yui Kirihara, who are also tracking down Runa for their own malevolent purposes. Assisting him along the way are the mysterious Shiro Mibu and the nurse mutant girl Komugi Nakahara, who betrayed the Hospital out of strong romantic love for Kyosuke.

……..I’ve been foiled again. I was really trying to get into the story and while I did get into it for a little bit, I felt confused but not as confused as I was with other Shinbo anime. Granted, the story isn’t exactly wholly original but then again, anything isn’t exactly original nowadays. Inbetween the first and second halves of the show, it seems to pick back up in between episodes where I’m trying to pay attention.The show does borrow some elements from anime similar to this (Devilman, Guyver, etc.) but one to notice quick, they would call bullshit and since this is all fresh to me, it’s mostly passable. I wouldn’t call it great, but slightly above average.

I say for characters, these are basically stock character I’m dealing with. Some aren’t bad but they are just mildly forgetful. The lead Kyosuke Date is the basic hero character with a fucked-up past about how his mother stabbed him, his sister is missing, his father wants to kill him…OK, maybe it’s not entirely basic but he does have a very messed up family. Any other character is merely a stock character with stock emotions and reactions and yes, that goes to everyone especially Komugi, that nurse character who was slightly less annoying here than she was in her own spin-off (yes, this character actually has a spin-off OVA, which I already reviewed.) Go figure.

This is one weird and colorful artstyle and animation for the show. Tatsunoko Productions or Tatsunoko Pro, who’s been in the anime business since the 1960s and being that this is their first mature-themed series, it does have some of Shinbo’s style to the series, even before SHAFT got his hands on him. The color palette can be a bit distracting on the eyes and the character designs are a bit ‘meh’.

Musically, I really love the opening to the show as it has this vibrant superhero feel to it despite the show not being that. Probably a contrast to the darker tone of the series and the ending song was remarkably good as well considering that did felt the tone of the show, only on the lighter side of the show.

So……the dub…..from Pioneer (Geneon) and Ocean Group…..it was alright and convincing. Brad Swaile to me seems like the Canadian version of Johnny Yong Bosch or Yuri Lowenthal, playing the whiny hero role (well, not technically that whiny).

FINAL VERDICT: It’s an alright show. I think if you’re interested enough or if you got an attention span longer than 10 minutes, you might get into the show as well. This one is probably recommended for a day whenever you’re bored or something.

Hmmm…….

You know, seeing the previews of this show a few months ago, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it.

Then again, as I said in the last review, comedy is a subjective art form and this especially goes into anime. For me, it’s like comedic shows like Sgt. Frog, Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt, Squid Girl, & Kill La Kill does better with me than the likes of Baka to Test, Love Hina, B Gata H Kei and Nisekoi. You can say some of them are the same but no…..they’re not.

I can see myself liking it but then again, it does have the annoying eechi show ... feel to it and I have been getting annoyed with those type of shows and the fact most of them may not be my thing.



Pretty, busty rich girl Sakura Ichiko has been blessed with an inordinate amount of good fortune, so much so that she’s actually sucking the fortune from those around her. To correct that massive imbalance, Momiji, a God of Misfortune, has come to Earth to “treat” Sakura—only Sakura isn’t so willing to cooperate. As part of an ongoing effort to remedy the problem, Momiji starts living with Sakura.



So……..that comedy thing of mine? Yeah, I saw myself laughing at a few moments in the show that are genuine but most of the time when they were referencing other anime (DBZ, One Piece, Lupin, etc.) or go overblown with the eechi/boob jokes, that is when I groan at that (I would say more but SPOILERS). I mean, it just felt very lazy writing like these are last minute jokes someone just came up with and decided to stick in there. There is also the heart of the show being that good luck and happiness comes from within and not from the material things although it does feel weak as it goes along and while it’s decent, some of the aforementioned comedy interrupt those moments and makes it seem very out of place and awkward. I can like kookiness in an anime and I think the show tries to have it both ways but sadly some of the time, I didn’t feel as invested in the story as much…….nor the characters as much either.



Ichiko Sakura is the most typical Mary Sue character in the show. She’s adored by all of the guys in schools but loathed by all of the girls but leads a very lonely life even though she has about every material thing in her grasp…..oh, did I mention she got boobs? Hell, her nickname on the show is Tit-chiko and thankfully that didn’t get used as much…..at least from what I heard. I can’t say she progressed but it didn’t felt like de-characterization and I did like the banter between her and Momiji and them getting at each other’s throats. In short for the other characters, Bobby the perverted monk and Momo’o the S&M dog god, whose both character traits gets worn out very early in the show. Keita is pretty much the straight man in the series and the rest of the family are decent as well, just not as interesting and I did like Ranmaru in the show as well as she’s one of the few characters that doesn’t annoy me as much. Also, should I give a fuck about Nadeshiko?



No? Yes? I heard in the manga, she’s more vital in there but this isn’t about the manga, it’s the anime version I’m reviewing and I say…….yeah, I don’t give a fuck about her at all.

The animation and artwork is okay, it is more of the typical art style that most anime people are used to. Then again, this is much up to Sunrise’s alley as them doing gag comedy isn’t new to them. After all, like I said, Sgt. Frog is one of my favorite anime comedies and they are responsible for that as well and they do succeed with what they’re doing, although I still do get mostly annoyed with it, too.



Musically, my thoughts on that is meh as well. The opening theme for the show is alright, I like the first 8-bit parts of it and other than that, it’s merely okay. Ending theme is also fine as is the rest of the score.

The FUNimation dub does help me get through the series as it goes along. I did like the performances of Brina Palencia & Colleen Clinkenbeard as Ichiko & Momiji, respectively as they do deliver the best performances of the dub. Patrick Seitz & Todd Haberkorn are pretty type-casted in the show (Seitz being the black guy although he’s damn good at it and Haberkorn playing the one guy with the nasally whiny voice), that’s not to say that were bad in it, that’s the opposite of that as they played their roles very well. Also, I did like Martha Harms as Ranmaru, a VA that I haven’t recognized in FUNi dubs in the past that could become more noticeable in the future.



FINAL VERDICT: The show does have its charms and I have thought of some moments in there to be funny and have some heart but it does tend to lose that quickly when some of the humor gets tired. It’s stupid and silly in both the right ways…..and the wrong ways, too. I will say that it is worth a watch but this is more of a stream it rather than buy right away. Just dip your toe in the world of Good Luck Girl first before owning any DVD and/or Blu-ray.

The tests have come, and Keitaro can only hope to succeed. However, in the final stretch, he fails miserably and daydreams through the test. Assuming that he has failed, he runs away, so the rest of the cast hunts him down on a remote desert island to bring him back.

I might as well call this special, “The FUCK IT ALL” special because we’re just going through the same shit again with Keitaro trying to pass his entrance exam to be in Tokyo U for the umpteenth time but manages to fuck that up and ended up being at a desert island.



Sorry if I don’t have ... much to say on this because they’re really isn’t much to say about this. Keitaro is going through some shit we’ve seen before. Shinobu’s storyline isn’t that much vital anyway considering that whole “this guy likes me but I’m obviously in love with Keitaro” plotline isn’t referenced that much in the OVA and of course, there is another character, this island girl named Nyamo, who is basically a darker skinned version of Shinobu and her plot of finding her father or grandfather or something…….yeah, the OVA didn’t have much care about it so why should I?



And yes, those Keitaro/Naru moments are back and still annoying as ever, especially with one scene where she’s chasing him throughout the desert and even when she’s almost exhausted, she still tries to hit him. Stop with that shit!!! It wasn’t cute nor funny the first time and it’s not going to be this time either, it’s just an annoying gag that got overused way too much in this franchise and it only justifies as why should we care if these two idiots get together in the end. Even if there was a conclusion to that story, I still wouldn’t care that much about it. Yeah, as I said in the Again review….their problem isn’t the fan service, it’s their comedy and their schmaltzy attempts of getting sentiment from the audience. You want to make something with enough laughs and heart? Then don’t follow Love Hina’s example!!!



As for the animation and sound, they are about as equal to the series and the last OVA, The Christmas Special, and they isn’t really nothing new to add on the animation front. It was daring and new at the time it come around but it’s just mostly the standard as of……well, a few years ago. Music is just the same cutesy yet annoying tone but it gets worse during the Spring Special and worse of all, The English dub is just so horrible…….my god, this is a bad one. All the voices sound too high-pitched and girly even when it’s the voice actresses giving it their all and while I may like some of these actresses, I think their talents were abused during this OVA.



FINAL VERDICT: I’m so glad I’m done with this franchise. Just so fucking done. I hate Love Hina within all my heart and this is never going to change. You don’t give a shit about the story, the characters, and you wonder why you even thought of going along with this in the first place.

Welp, I’m back in this god awful anime franchise.

I get that comedy is a subjective art form and there are many different ways to make people laugh, from the most high-brow comedy to the lowest of the low (and people tend to see/watch that the most; don’t believe it? Two and a Half Men lasted this long. There’s your proof) but it all depends on what you thought as funny because many people have different tastes and all that. I know that can tolerate Love Hina and all its….*ahem* glory and I question them why and wonder what people see in this show.

Keitaro needs some ... time to evaluate himself and his goals, so he goes onto a trip with Seta to attempt the life of an archaeologist. However, not all is safe at the Hinata Inn while he is gone. A woman claiming to be Keitaros sister comes and claims right to be the manager of the inn. Life gets complicated when Keitaro returns, and attempts to deal with his sister of yesteryear.

I’ve read some reviews saying that this is here the franchise has fallen from grace and how this might be one of the worst entries of the Love Hina franchise. But then again, if you really thought Love Hina was good or poignant or touching in the first place, then you really needed to re-think your thoughts on the show. Yeah, they’re right on this OVA being absolute shit because it is. Most of the time, they have these ridiculous plotline of Keitaro’s younger sister Kanako staying in the Hinata Inn in order to be closer…..*vomits a little*…..to her brother. Yep, it’s another one of those stories and of course, it drives a wedge between the “ever so progressing” relationship between Keitaro and Naru because it’s not like it wasn’t much boring or annoying than before. Oh wait…….



Yeah, there is a bunch of fan service thrown in there, but in the wrong and mostly turned-off way as possible but then again, it wasn’t the fan service that annoyed me (even though it was one of the factors), they just have a clumsy way of doing comedy along with transitioning to the serious and “touching” moments this show has. I’m sorry but if you expect me to feel some sympathy for those characters especially after a scene of bullshit fan service, the ever popular Naru beating up Keitaro for something that was a honest mistake, more torture shit and Kanako trying to bone her brother, then you’ve failed to be given a shit about.



Speaking of Kanako, oh God, she was one of the most annoying characters in the show, granted she is not as bad as Naru or any of the girls (nix for Shinobu and Haruka) but her constant efforts of making Keitaro fall in love with her is just super creepy to me and like I said, I could not give less of a shit about this character.


As for the animation and sound, they are about as equal to the series and the last OVA, The Christmas Special, and they isn’t really nothing new to add on the animation front. It was daring and new at the time it come around but it’s just mostly the standard as of……well, a few years ago. Music is just the same cutesy yet annoying tone but it gets worse during the Spring Special and worse of all, The English dub is just so horrible…….my god, this is a bad one. All the voices sound too high-pitched and girly even when it’s the voice actresses giving it their all and while I may like some of these actresses, I think their talents were abused during this OVA.

Well, as I said before in previous reviews, I have recently become very interested in the works of one Gen Urobuchi and for the most part, some of the shows he’s written for does have these very dark and mature themes (well, with the little exception of Gargantia), showing how what we think might be conventional could be out of the blue very fast and it doesn’t go too in over your head or being too pretentious at it goes and going into this show, it does feel like a police procedural being in anime form but hopefully, I know it’s not just going to ... be that.

The plot focuses on Akane Tsunemori, a new Inspector of Unit One, and a police unit from the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division. As an Inspector, she hunts criminals alongside a special team of so-called latent criminals called Enforcers. Both Enforcers and Inspectors use large handguns called "Dominators", special weapons designed to fire only on those with a higher-than-acceptable Crime Coefficient. Even though Akane is ashamed of shooting the Enforcer Shinya Kogami during her first mission to protect a latent criminal, Kogami thanks her for stopping him from becoming a murderer which convinces Akane to stay. During some of Akane's first investigations, the group learns of a mastermind behind multiple crimes, Shogo Makishima. Being Criminally Asymptomatic (免罪体質 Menzai Taishitsu?), Makishima's criminal psychology yields a low Crime Coefficient, thus rendering him safe from the Dominator.

I got to say…….it didn’t felt like a police procedural at all, at least until most episodes go by but the first few episodes does set up the main plotline (being that a slow build-up works it up instead of being too rapid) plus it does turn into a different shell of its own and that’s when it hit me. This show is quite reminiscent of Production I.G’s flagship series, Ghost in the Shell, as the show does have some similarities with the cyberpunk and dystopian elements intact and there is the concept of law and order being played into the show (and for the record, I’m not calling it a clone). Questions like what if the law doesn’t work in your favor? What if you felt like even with the law, you aren’t always protected? Should you obey the law or defy them in order to protect yourself? It is something that many of us question to this very day, it’s something that remains very relevant and vital up to this day and showing that when some of that does get to you at the end of the day. Plus, it does help that the writing quality is top-notch and it does handle those subject carefully.

Characters are also good in quality albeit most of the supporting characters don’t have much screen time (aside from a standalone episode about Yayoi and that’s about it) but they are developed as multi-dimensional characters and they never come off as being morally black or white, just morally in-between grey, especially the main character Akane Tsunemori, who might be that character that got me interested as being the rookie who’s learning her way around as an Inspector and it wasn’t going to be an easy one, especially when it gets to the latter half and the way the former transitions to that half, I got a little emotional towards some parts especially at what happens at Episode 11 and man…..Episode 11…..Holy shit. (DAMN YOU, UROBUCHI!!! YOU MASTERFUL MOTHER--) Shogo Makishima is that mastermind villain that shows that he isn’t that fucked up in the head when his cynical but impartial views about the law and order concept are anatomically correct and Kogami is also another well-developed character, and like the show, does have his choice to either bring justice either by the law or his own hand.

Animation-wise, I got to give props at the guys and girls at Production I.G. as the show does look slick, dark, stylish and gorgeous. The character designs aren’t too anime-typical and does have the feel of a live-action show translated into animated form. The CG didn’t feel out of place especially with the Dominator scenes and I will say this as a precaution, there is some over-the-top gore during those Dominator scenes but there isn’t like an uncontrollable amount of it so it isn’t that excessive with it. I can say I can see why his next project Gargantia was toned down on the gore, blood and death.

Musically, the OP and ED songs are quite listenable, while I do like the 2nd OP more than the first one and for the ED song, I like the 1st one better than the 2nd, although those two are very fast-paced openers/enders while the 1st OP/2nd ED was more slow-paced and there’s nothing wrong with that as they do need a contrast between each other, depending how the episode ends.

The FUNimation dub was passable, it gave out some good performances especially from the leads which I have never noticed in their other dub roles and some other performances were OK but it didn’t completely win me over or give any attention to myself. Robert McCollum does bring a good performance as Kogami and I’m pleased with Kate Oxley as Akane and the newcomer of the game, Alex Organ as Makishima delivers a decent job in the dub.

FINAL VERDICT: When it comes to this show and comparing it to other Urobuchi-written shows, I would put this above Gargantia but below Fate/Zero and Madoka Magica. Is this a good show? Yeah. It’s a great show that has a good amount of action, something that make us think about our ideals about law and order, some moments where you do feel some emotion and it doesn’t hold back but isn’t too excessive with itself. If you’re somebody that likes cyberpunk shows like GiTS, you might enjoy this one.

OK, we are into one of the last Marvel Anime series for me to review (Yeah, yeah, I know the Blade anime was the last one but I already reviewed that one first) and of course, this one is about the X-Men, one of Marvel’s first team of mutant superheroes created at the time of Civil Rights Movement and also touching upon reflecting social issues that are still present to this very day. The comic book series is created by Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby and the franchise lasted over 50 years and counting, spawning over countless animated TV series, videogames and of course, ... the popular film franchise that’s still going today with the (at the time of writing this review) upcoming movie Days of Future Past and Apocalypse in 2016.







Following the death of Jean Grey (who was being controlled by the Inner Circle), the X-Men are reassembled by Professor X to travel to Japan following the abduction of Armor and face the U-Men, who are abducting young mutants in order to harvest their organs. During their fight with the U-Men, the X-Men discover that some of the mutants in Japan are suffering from the “Damon Hall Syndrome”, which causes problems for mutants during their second mutation. The X-Men must also deal with the next plot of the Inner Circle.







Yeah, I got to be honest, I didn’t went in the show with the highest expectations considering most of the Marvel Anime shows are mainly below average or just dull but in here, there was a slight change of pace of what I thought in these shows. First off, this is a superhero team series as opposed to the earlier solo projects like Iron Man, Wolverine, & Blade. It gives much more focus to all of the characters without one single character dominating the whole series and it is refreshing to hear that. Story wise, it’s rather just the comeback of them after what happened to Jean Grey, which is pretty much the appetizer of the series although it felt like something that could’ve been animated beforehand but that whole incident was still addressed in later episodes, although I do expect the whole after effect on most—-well, some characters. I did expect that the whole Jean Grey death effecting on Cyclops plotline because…….well, it happened in the comics. Bottom line, the story is mainly paint-by-the-numbers and sort of the same thing I’m seeing with these anime adaptations.



And onto characters, you got the X-Men in the following of Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Storm, Professor X, and new recruit Armor alongside Emma Frost and like I’ve said, they were spread around for development but looking back at a little info from the comics, some character personalities aren’t the way they’re in the comics (although I can say as somebody who hasn’t read or is attached to them, I didn’t felt as bothered but I can sense something off with them).



Animation is quite gracefully detailed and colorful, plus it is a major improvement from Wolverine and Madhouse managed to animate some action in there and the character designs are very similar to mostly the ones in either the comics and some of the live-action movies. Musically, once again it’s so and so with their very cliché action music, from the opening to the ending and it’s not so surprising.



The dub………Oh, this is actually one of the better ones from the Marvel anime franchise. For one thing, I prefer Steve Blum as Wolverine than Milo Ventigimilia because the guy sounds more plausible as him anyway. Fred Tatasciore was actually good as Beast; I’m delighted to say that Stephanie Sheh fits her role as Armor but the roles I’m really not feeling as much are Cam Clarke as Professor X (I think he wasn’t trying to be Patrick Stewart but and maybe Scott Porter as Cyclops but I’m iffy on Danielle Nicolet as Storm.



FINAL VERDICT: Yeah, it helped that I lowered my expectations of this and while saying this is the most decent Marvel anime adaptation, that’s not saying much. It doesn’t suck but it isn’t exactly that worthy of high praise (it wasn’t in the first place). Would I say I would recommend it? Well, not exactly. Maybe something to watch only once and that’s it.

Ahhhh…..Mahoromatic, you are a very charming yet frenzied series when I first watched and reviewed you 2 years ago and I did notice that the show didn’t end there…or at least there’s still some story in the series as the following OVA takes place during season 2 (mainly between episodes 2 and 3). So….yeah, if you remember that ending to the show and thought the OVA was changing things after that, well, you thought wrong.



Suguru Misato lives with two maids, Minawa-chan and Mahoro-san, who are combat robots from the war between the alien life form Saint and the Earth. Both were allowed to live on ... as maids without weapons. While Suguru, Hamaji, Miyuki-chan and three other classmates prepare for a maid cafe to celebrate the Hiryushi town’s 120-years anniversary, Mahoro-san and Minawa-chan are attacked by robots.



So, the whole two-episode OVA is pretty much like the basic structure of the series as I last saw it but it is more restrained than what its usual plot of the show with Mahoro and Minawa being powerful maid weapons and them being hunted by the Management. I will say compared to their last side-story The Summer Special, it didn’t felt like a throwaway episode that relies on the gags only, although the gags appear in here, too. Some gags happened to be funny while the rest is painfully cringe worthy involving one character who really annoyed me during the series’ run.



As I said in the Mahoromatic review (this is just a recap of those characters) is that I do find Mahoro to be a charming, interesting and endearing character who, despite being a robotic maid, is the one character in the show I really felt for and also what else I like about Mahoro is that while some embarrassing moments happen to her, she can be very stern about that but she isn’t being a cold bitch about it.. Suguru…..still an okay character; The “Triomatic” (Miyuki, Rin, Chizuko) and his two friends Toshiya and Kiyomi are nothing that interesting to me; Ms. Shikijo is still the most annoying character in the show, especially when trying to seduce Suguru to himself (and how much I wanted Mahoro to end her); Slash is still cool (He’s a partner) and Ryuga, too. Minawa is still fresh in my mind as the newer addition to the group and she’s clumsy while Suguru’s friend Toshiya is crushing on her deep.



Yes, there is still some fan service in this show but to be fair, it’s more subtle than most shows of this genre turn out to be (remember “This Ugly yet Beautiful World”/ You shouldn’t.) and the fact that aspect doesn’t take over the show. There is also that it’s just GAINAX is control of the series with SHAFT overall being absent in the production and the animation does perform very well and visually an improvement from the 2002-2003 series (the OVA was released in 2009).



The musical score is something that has its cutesy thing going for it and they do fit very well, much like the ending themes to the first two TV series and while I personally don’t care for it, it does rather alright. Now, Sentai Filmworks did license the OVA along with the series from Geneon, they did brought back the dub cast from Bang Zoom Entertainment, with some recasting in some roles. First, as I should’ve said this in the first review, I love Ellen Wilkerson as Mahoro in the dub as I always find her voice acting to be believable as that character. I did like Christine Marie Cabanos as Minawa more or equal to as the previous actress playing her and for Ryuga, Keith Silverstein did do alright but I thought David Lucas was better, not to downplay Keith’s performance. Surprisingly, I did noticed Erik Scott Kimerer, pre-Accel World in this dub.



FINAL VERDICT: This special is like my rating of the series as I did have enjoyment in the series with some problems of what they can come up with. It’s a passable OVA that doesn’t stray too far of the original show. I would say you can stream the two only but if you want the Complete Mahoromatic experience, you should check out this and the series overall.