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I gotta admit, I myself was never a big fan of mecha animes in the past, but from all the recommendations from other people that had watched it, and from the artwork, I felt that this was an anime that just couldn't suck. So I decided to give it a shot and watch it. And this baby even blew my already high expectations. Why is this such a fest of awesomeness, you ask? Well, where do I begin?

As for the story, I can say that it is extremely simple. The performance of this, however, is what makes it so awesome. As soon as the main ... characters reach the surface, everything keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And yet the heroes can manage to overcome any of these by sheer willpower. In fact, the ganmen used by the protagonists wouldn't even work if without willpower. The villains have strong motivations to do what they do, while the heroes have a damn good reason to oppose them. In fact, the heroes even go so far as to destroy whatever motivated the villains to do what they did in the first place. All with a huge amount of testosterone slammed in to make it even more awesome.

As for the art direction, I say it very raw and rough, but that is what makes it fit so well with the story of the anime. Especially in the most intense scenes. One can really see how it really goes to the extreme in these moments, reallyn capturing the awesomeness of said scenes. I can truly say this is the most raw art styles I have seen in any anime to date. That is part of why it stands out so well to many other animes.

As for sound, I really think the soundtrack is really diverse. The opening song got stuck on my head immediately after I heard it for the first time. I swear, they went over the top to make sure the music didn't get played too often, a good thing I really do appreciate. It is rare to hear a song played more than once in an episode, which means that a song doesn't get too repetitive after a while. And with such a diverse soundtrack, I must say it is kinda obvious. The tunes vary from rock to rap to a little bit of anything, really. That makes the musical score pretty much appealing to any taste.

The amount of characters is huge. Most are part of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, and I must say many of the characters feel like they are there to make the Brigade feel as big as it is supposed to be. Many of these characters have just about as much focus to make interesting side characters and comical relief, but they do feel like they have their parts in the anime. The main character, Simon, while starting out as a bit of a shy dog looking up to his adopted brother, Kamina, is a true example of a man who takes a grade in manliness and willpower and evolves beyond the impossible to such a degree that he himself becomes unstoppable. And he still doesn't beat Kamina, the true beacon of awesomeness in the series. Believe me when I say that you'll want those shades when you have watched this series. As no series would be complete without some female flesh, the series has two main female characters, Yoko and Nia, action girl and love interest respectively. To not get into spoilers, I can only say that Nia herself is a pretty sad character in my opinion. Yoko, however, feels more like a major link in the brigade, acting more like the team's major action girl, and a secondary leader of the crew for large parts of the anime. The villains themselves are pretty awesome. At least the major ones. I especially like Viral in this regard due to him being a major rival for the main chararacter, and is probably one of the most interesting of the villains, seconded only by Lord Genome, who in himself is an extremely manly example of manlyness found in the villains. I would like to discuss some more of the major characters in this anime, but I think I will stop here to get on with the rest of the review.

I really enjoyed this anime. It might be a bit too early to talk about it in a more criticizing manner for me, but this is really the kind of anime you want to watch if you want to get an overdose of manliness. I really was satisfied pretty much non-stop while watching this, and it had a good share of manly tears, screams of awesomeness, and motivational kicks. I can truly say, this is a masterpiece. Maybe there are better animes aout there, but damn, I don't think you can find anyone that's more awesome, because this is awesomeness incarnate.

By some coinsidence on the internet, I came into contact with Rozen Maiden through the probably all to known DESU meme, and random recommendations from several websites. I started watching Rozen Maiden somewhere during fall, and finished watching somewhere before December. Here comes my review of the anime.

Story - This is one of the highlights of the Rozen Maiden. The story about Jun and how he comes in contact with the dolls is an action-filled, emotional, yet humorous sotry. The makers of Rozen maiden has managed to make a fine mix between humor, drama and action, and it is rather clear what nature each scene ... is of. It should be clear what episodes make the story go forward. Some things, however, may be confusing, but these are explained in one way or another through the anime. The plot holes in the story leaves the watcher with some questions. Many of these plot holes are filled in in träumend, however, so this makes it even moe worth to keep watching.

Art - There's really only one thing I can say here. The art is outstanding, and is also one of the major qualities of the show. Ranging from the modern Japanese suburban style of where most of the story takes place, to a more 19th century Victorian style of the N-field, the visual range of the anime is simply amazing. The dolls clearly differ from the humans in design. The 19th century style of the dolls clearly stand out from the modern look of the human characters.

Sound - This has to be the only downside of Rozen Maiden. The opening credits may be interesting to hear the first few times, but after you've heard it some times, you will start to feel it gets on your nerves. The opening credits are not really the best I've heard, by far. As for the ending credits, it is not at all as annoying as the opening credits. It is even quite calm and enjoyable, and does not get annoying after a few times, unlike the opening credits. The music that occurs in the show is in good touch with the scenes, with distinctive music for all types of scenes. However, many are played so commonly that you start to recognize them every time you hear them. It is not annoying, unlike the opening credits, but when you've heard the same song for every scene of the same nature, you'll want some different music for a change. As for voice actors, I believe they couldn't have done a better job for the japanese voice acting than what they already did. The voices fit the characters great, and I can't think of any flaws. If there is something that stands out in the sound department, it is definitely the voice actors.

Characters - This has to be another of Rozen Maiden's shining points. All of the characters have their own distinctive traits. For example, the main Character, Jun, is a secluded, traumatized young boy who has an interest in buying supernatural things. As the story progresses, however, one will notice how he changes as a response to the dolls that he comes in contact with. The dolls themselves are rather unique themselves, each housing their own distinctive traits and personalities. For instance, while Shinku may be aristocratic and dominant, Suigintu is cold and full of sorrow, while Hinaichogo is as innocent as a child. The character that seems to help the bond grow between the characters, is Jun's older sister Nori, who treats both Jun and the dolls with lots of love and care. While she is not the most prominent of the characters nor a very integral in the main plot, she is an important character nevertheless, and a strong support to everybody.

Enjoyment - To put it shortly, this is the best anime I have seen. It is rich of humor, action and drama, and is put together in a very good way. You may want to watch this many times just to catch all the aspects of the anime. This is truly an anime to remember.

Overall - As I said before, this is the best anime I have seen. If you like action and drama with a good sense of humor, this is an anime for you. I promise you, that you will not be dissappointed. Wonderful story with a beautiful style, and much diversity makes this anime something you can relate to. And if you like the original anime, then Träumend and Ouvertüre is a must to watch.

Overall score: 10/10 DESU