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Who decides what is good or what is evil? How does one justify his/her actions based on the given situation? That's my take away from this whole series. Don't look for a happy ending in this one.

I will do this review in two parts:
1. General thoughts and comments
2. Psychological discussion (main focus of this review)

1. I finally finished watching Shiki and I must say it was a spectacularly dark and a very psychological horror series. Oh and did I mention extremely bloody?
In recent years, we have seen an spike in vampire films. From the Blade series to Twilight, modern media has been infatuated ... with these "bloodsuckers" . However, Shiki diverges from the "romanticism" of many modern vampire fiction. This series depicts the Shiki and humans in a very primeval way. Deep down the nature of the "Shiki is to suck blood and the humans will do whatever it take to survive even if it means throwing away their humanity.

Blabbing about how good I personally thought the about series was won't be of much help in this review because in the end enjoyment of any series will be subjective. However, I will quickly go over the elements of this series.
The story of Shiki was great. It builds up slowly towards the beginning and becomes more captivating as the series progresses. There is suspense at every corner and really helps to captivate the audience. There are plenty of flashbacks to aid in character development and explanation of events. Many characters will have you sympathizing with them or simply resenting them.
The art work seems very colorful and the hairstyles very exaggerated at first glance but don't try to pick up hints on how the story will progress on the color alone. I think the director almost intended throw off the audience's expectations by using a very colorful and vibrant visual.
The characters are very diverse and developed pretty well. Their attitudes and beliefs can be easily picked up on by observing their dialogue and association with others. Their facial features or clothes can also reflect on their attitudes and behavior.
When it comes down to the sound, there isn't anything too special worth noting but the opening and ending songs I really enjoyed .

Over all enjoyment I would place at a 9/10.

2. Aside from the general comments, this is where I will put most of my thoughts and to me this is a very psychological series. As stated earlier, the take away from this series I got was "who decides what is good and what is evil? Towards the end of the series, the line that separates humanity and the "Shiki" become blurred. Which side is evil and which side is good? Whose actions are correct and whose are in the incorrect? Are "Shiki" wrong to want to sustain themselves by feeding on humans? Are humans wrong for exterminating the "Shiki" in order to protect themselves and preventing a further outbreak? In terms of survival, the Shiki are not in the wrong for wanting to feed on humans to survive. Like how humans survive by killing animals, this is only natural of the Shiki to feed on humans.
On the flip side, why do the Shiki believe every human who becomes one of them wants to be treated the same way? Blood sucking certainly seems like norm but there are a few exceptions.
As for the humans trying to protect themselves, when does taking measures become excessive, so much that they would discard their humanity just to exterminate the Shiki?

Though in some extent the "undead" problem was started by the Shiki, but the humans that become so driven by revenge and blood lust might be ultimately no better than the Shiki themselves.


These are pretty tough questions to ponder but that's one of the reasons I enjoyed this series so much. As the series progresses, you will begin to wonder which side was evil and which side was good. But that line between the goodness or evilness of Shiki and humans will become blurred.

I hope you all will find this series very enjoyable as I did and perhaps ponder the same questions.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
― Winston S. Churchill

I find that quote to be a very fitting mindset to have while watching this series.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is not your average gag/satirical anime. What should be dark is funny and even when we think the world is as dark as the bottom of the ocean, this series somehow manages to throw in a shred of light and bring about laughter in such dark topics.

To be honest, I enjoyed this show because I am a pessimist my self much like the main character (well ... not to that extreme). Many of the dialogue or jokes within the series are actually social commentary. And if you are a big anime/manga fan and are decently informed about social issues, politics and current events and the like, this should be quite enjoyable for you.

Yes there are cheesy moments in the show but I never felt at any point that the creator of this show tried to take advantage of the audience by presenting cheap fan service shots or tried to forcibly invoke laughter.

Visually, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is moderate at best. Not too many flashy colors, not to dull either, a good balance and I'd say the animation is definitely easy on the eyes. The artwork on the still frames are very vibrant and enjoyable too.

The audio is just awesome. The OP and ED snippets are a little crazier than most of the animation in show but it really gets your attention. The voicing in this series isn't half bad either. I don't know too much about Japanese seiyuu but for the purposes of this show, they get the job more than done.

To wrap things up, this anime is a must watch if you really enjoy dark humor and satire. A little psychotic perhaps to spice things up, and definitely a little more psychological than the usual brainless cheap laugh inducing fan service laden gag anime. It is a must watch.
Overall experience and after thoughts: 9/10

Im not going into details or the background of this movie. Its just simply too awesome and I do not want to ruin a bit of it for anyone who has yet to see this movie. If you have seen Inception (2010), many ideas will instantly click when you watch Paprika.

The art work is very vivid and colorful and this is one of the factors that makes the movie so great. The production company cut no corners in the production of this movie. However many of the scenes throughout the movie are quite trippy.

The sound track is equally amazing. Check out the Paprika ... OST and you'll understand why. But the music is another component that makes Paprika the masterpiece that it is.

The movie will almost certainly captivate audiences with its audio/visual appeal.

Overall, I must say this is a must watch movie for all Anime Fans. It is fun to watch with your family but be aware if you have children for there some elements meant for slightly older audiences. This movie is very engaging so you and your friends might engage in some serious discussion afterwards. And if you really enjoyed Inception and thought that was a mindfuck, take this one for a spin, im sure you will enjoy it too.

HOTD might be one of those forgettable anime after a while but you certainly had fun watching it. Its a mix of horror, fan service (lots of cleavage), and zombie killing. IF you came for some intellectual depth, this is definitely the wrong anime for you. Its plot is pretty cliche for a zombie apocalypse genre show. A zombie outbreak occurs, and the main characters are a group of high school survivors. The characters and their quirks are revealed as the series unravels and its not too deep. The plot can be a little underwhelming at times but the action and fan service makes up ... for it if you are into that kind of stuff.

If you like action and fan service, this is a pretty awesome anime to satiate those needs. But if you want a horror/action genre with a little more depth, you might want to try something else. The manga version of this is the better pick in my opinion.

Usagi Drop to me is a breath of fresh air. It is a nice slice of anime about a 30 year old man who has to take care of his late grandfather's 6 year old daughter.
The character development is as realistic as it can get. There are no elements of fantasy or any outlandish situations, so it it very down to earth. There are no elements of fan service what so ever and it is pretty straight forward. Usagi Drop is both heartwarming and realistic. Every episode makes you feel warm and fuzzy and good. I would really recommend this show for people who ... want to take a short break from the usual over the top elements that we see in many current anime shows.

This is one of those gems of the old that I have slept on. It is almost 20 years old and this is by far one of the best sports anime I've ever watched. At first i thought I'd tackle a challenge: watch an entire anime series with around 100 episodes. There were many anime out there around this length that i just could not commit to. Before long, I became hooked. Having watched 10+ episodes a day, i finished within a week.

This anime not only entertains, but it contains factual information on the basics of basketball. The character designs were well crafted ... and realistic. The music selection is great and the art work for it's day was probably outstanding.

If you are a basketball fan and like anime, this is the right anime for you.
(side note* This anime also made me very happy because it also pays homage to the Jordan brand. And i happen to love Jordan sneakers.)