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As an average traveller of the internet, I have been bombarded with millions of images regarding this anime, most of them filled with fanboys/girls saying how amazing Sword Art Online was, and how Asuna and Kirito were the most perfect couple in history. Curious, I decided to waste 20 minutes on watching the first episode, and I do admit, it looked really fantastic. It did of course, it doesn't anymore...

Story: 3/10
I don't really know how the creator of SAO handed his work to his editor. I figured he gave him a piece of paper with "CLICHE!" written on the middle, I might be wrong.
As ... gamers might be aware of, reaching the final boss of any MMO is a tough job, you need to train a lot, get the best equipment and skilled companions to aid you. Considering the fact that the very first boss of SAO (the weakest) was incredibly hard to handle, you could picture the amount of work our "heroes" will have to reach the end... pretty much none. Every episode occurs around 3 to 6 months after the previous one, in a desperate attempt to make the story move forward, I don't really see why, especially when the first episodes are nothing but useless fillers. I could write a novel with the flaws of this poorly made excuse for a story, but the other reviews do a good job on it.

Art: 7/10
Being of 2012, the animation is quite good, doing all those flashy sparkles and carefully designed background is not an easy task. But still, it's not really impressive, because most new animes have the same detail and definition, so it doesn't really stand out that much.

Sound: 6/10
Like the art, good. I can't really say much, because I rarely pay attention to background music, unless it is really amazing.

Character: 3/10
Kirito is a Mary Sue, that reason alone is more than enough to make me hate him. "This boss is way too strong to defeat alone!" Kirito does it. "We need to work together to survive!" Kirito survives alone. "You can only wield one sword!" Kirito gets two of them, and the list continues. Despite being a boring, anti-social, party-pooper son of a goat, he manages to make every single girl in the series to fall for him with no effort. The same goes for his experience and skill, you would expect the other characters to be also experienced, and they kinda are, but our "hero" is always stronger than everyone by 700 miles!
Now, the girl... Asuna started of as a completely mysterious person, some time-skips later, she was the strong, independent and ruthless captain of the strongest guild in the game! Some time-skips later, she was the very cute and innocent, dinner-preparing house wife... for our "hero" of course! I enjoy character development, but this young lady is doing it wrong... I can't really say many things, unlike the other girls, she is not very fond of Kirito, but like ALL the other girls, she falls for him and actually marries him. You don't see the love, you don't see the process, they spend some time together, next thing you see she's undressing for him... But don't panic, the secondary characters are actually kind of nice, you might like them, too bad 90% of the time is dedicated to the "perfect couple"...

Enjoyment: 4/10
Other than an occasional joke over here and there and the rare appearance of some secondary characters, there's not much to enjoy. You can still watch it for the pretty colors.


Disappointing, overrated, lame in general... Don't bother to watch this. The feeling is similar to "Two girls One cup". You start with something good, but in the end you get sh*t, except not literally this time...

As a boy, I didn't really have a good impression of Black Butler. As I saw fangirls going wild about Sebastian or whoever it was, I though it was one of those boring and tedious pretty-looking mangas with perfect guys that made the fangirls squeal.

I was right. It was a pretty-looking manga with perfect guys, but it wasn't boring nor tedious, it's probably one of the most exciting things I've read in years!

Story: 9
The description does a good job describing the story, so I won't say it again. I knew it was during the Victorian Era and I also knew it made references to famous ... things like Jack the Ripper, Titanic etc. I just didn't know it was so well done! The story is built in arcs, when one ends another begins, and so on. It may sound like random adventures after another one, but it's a lot more than that. Every arc has some connection with Ciel's past, and each one gives us a little hint to what really happened and to what's going to happen next. There are always amazing twists, all unexpected but planned through the whole way, sometimes I look some pages back to make sure I didn't miss anything. It draws you in like it has its own gravity.

Art: 10/10
PERFECT. There is no other word to describe the art of this manga. Everything has astonishing details, the teacups, the clothing, the furniture, the characters, everything! All those fancy ornaments are drawn flawlessly, the expressions on the character's faces are always clear and show exactly what they mean, all those dresses and hats and stockings look absolutely perfect, not a single mistake in proportions, no mistakes whatsoever! I would offer my soul to a demon to have the skills to draw like this.

Character: 10/10
Such a classy environment requires finesse, class, dignity, nobleness... NOT! The crazy cast of Black Butler extends itself to all the possible boundaries of personality. From the pit of seriousness that is Ciel, to the effeminate queen of divas that is Grell. Sebastian the handsome perfect butler is always confident and nothing will stop him from doing his master's will, except maybe some kitties. The very creepy Undertaker is always a good source of information, as long as you give him a first-rate laugh of course! It is almost impossible to not laugh at the very awkward qualities and fetishes this lovely group has. I could write a book with all the fantastic qualities of all these characters, but that is just a big waste of my time.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Classy, gory, sad, hilarious, addictive, packed with actions, jokes, amazing twists, traumatic situations... Everything a good manga needs is here. Not a single chapter bothered me, interesting from one end to another, that's a very rare quality in my opinion. The only problem is that you have to wait a whole month for a new chapter to come out, which can be slightly annoying, interrupting fights and then pick them up one moth later... but it's all worth it.

Overall: 10
I said all I wanted to say. Despite being more popular among girls, I think any boy would enjoy this manga to it's fullest... I did ;)

It's my very first review so don't go all angry at my mistakes.

I heard many of my friends talk about Gintama and laughing their butts off every five minutes. With some curiosity I headed over my computer and started watching it. The first five minutes got me laughing pretty hard, as I saw Gintoki running away from those samurai, bumping into Kagura and Shinpanchi and getting chomped by Sadaharu. Not to mention that there were aliens and spaceships everywhere. It was wild to say the least, and I had a rather good feeling that I would enjoy this anime to the end.

I was right. I ... usually am.

One word to describe Gintama? I'm guessing "Unique". This is what's happening in a nutshell: Edo was invaded and conquered by aliens known as the Amanto and a jobless samurai known as Gintoki is now working as a freelancer along with his friends Shinpachi and Kagura. And yes, that's all.

Story: 9/10
The sheer originality of Gintama is absolute genius. I could spent my life brainstorming and I could never come up with something like this. It feels like watching a sitcom, the jokes are rather unusual in anime (aside for some puns) and there are numerous references to other famous animes such as One Piece Captain Harlock, Bleach, etc.

Art: 9/10
The art style is pretty average compered to all the other animes, but average fits Gintama perfectly. It's nothing too flashy nor too old fashioned. I guess it goes to show you that graphics really aren't everything.

Sound: 8/10
The crazy world of Gintama requires decent music, from the crazy running to the emotional drama moments , and it was pretty well prepared in my opinion. It usually matches with the character's mood, and I find that interesting. However, I don't usually pay much attention to the music, so I can't really offer you a proper judgement.

Characters: 10/10
This is what draws me into Gintama. Gintoki is simply the laziest, carefree, honorable, cowardly sweet-loving samurai you'll ever meet, and probably the only one too. Always ready to buy the next issue of Shonen JUMP, constantly fantasizing abut the weather report girl, this lazy, unmotivated samurai has a charisma level of over 9000, I wish I could describe him better, but you'll just have to see for yourself. Shinpachi is the closest one to "normality" as he tries to maintain the sanity of the situations, unless teen idol Otose is involved... Kagura is a perfect combination of brutal and cute, not exactly short tempered, but her physical strength is something to be careful about. And the un-faithful Sadaharu, a giant dog whose favorite hobby is to chew on Gintoki's head. Along with other hilarious characters like, Shinpachi's gorilla-raised sister, the Shinsengumi, Katsura the terrorist and his "cute" friend Elizabeth... Without this amazing cast, I doubt that Gintama could have made it this far.

In other words: Gintama is amazing. I only recommend it if you know a good share of other famous animes, otherwise you won't understand most of the puns. Still an amazing anime and a must watch, in my opinion. You won't regret it.