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If you don't want to read, then there’s a tl;dr at the end, as well as a tl;dr for every section.

One Punch Man; is a very overrated show. Definitely so. But, even so, it is in no way, “bad”.

Over the plethora of adjectives that can be used to describe OPM(Ridiculous, Overhyped, Stupid, Funny), the adjective that describes it the best is: Enjoyable. If anything, OPM is most definitely a very enjoyable show, but it’s in no way “perfect”, nor is it a “masterpiece” as some rabid fans will gladly proclaim.

Now then, onto the review.

Story:- 6/10
There really isn’t an actual story to OPM, nor is there ... an overarching story, mainly because OPM purely a satirical view on shounen anime and a decent deconstruction of heroes in general.

But even so, there is a basis. Saitama (A.K.A. Bald God) is a superhero who has gotten so strong that he can defeat/kill every opponent in; you guessed it, one punch. Alright fine, it’s not the most original setting, but hey, it works out very well.

But regardless of the basis, the show executes it very well, and that leads to some great comedy.

Although, the story is definitely without its flaws. The biggest flaw I find in the story is the lack of focus. I know that the anime is meant to be a comedic look at shounen, but even so, I would’ve liked some more focus. Another huge flaw is the repetitiveness of the show. The show starts very slowly with the same basic plot repeating itself multiple times, but even by the end there really wasn’t anything new about the plot. Every episode/arc in the series can be summed up by saying:- “Strong looking enemy, no other hero can defeat it, Saitama shows up, Saitama wrecks the enemy.” This is the basic plot of every single arc/episode of the show.


TL;DR for STORY: The story is not meant to be taken seriously, not at all. But that is no excuse for poor pacing and repetitive plots. It helps that these plots are well made, but repeating the same plot 5 or 6 times causes the story to get boring at times. The beginning of the show is also quite slow. Still, even all these flaws don’t cause the charm of the story to fade away, and the story is definitely enjoyable overall.


Art and Animation:- 9/10
The animation of OPM is done by Madhouse, an animation company considered to be equal to Jesus in the anime industry, and Madhouse definitely delivered with this show.

I’m not going to beat around the bush with this section, the animation of the show is gorgeous, especially the fight scenes. Some of the fight scenes in this show are easily some of the best fights in all of anime, solely because of the amazing animation.

Everything feels extremely fluent and I never took my eyes off the screen, especially during the fights.

The manga has great art, and Madhouse was able to perfectly convert the manga’s art into animation.


TL;DR for ANIMATION: The animation of OPM is top-class, and just adds to my enjoyment of the show. Every single part of the anime was animated extremely well, and the fights are some of the best I’ve ever seen.


Sound:-8/10
The OST of the show is definitely a good soundtrack, but none of the soundtracks stand out more than the others.

What does stand out though is the opening. It’s a high octane opening with some great animation and it captures the essence of OPM perfectly. The ending on the other hand is a very calming piece of music with contrasts the feel of the show very well.

The voice actors of the characters of the show also portray the characters very well, especially Saitama’s VA(Makoto Furukawa).


TL;DR for SOUND: The shows soundtrack is pretty good, but nothing stands out from it. The OP and ED are both very good, especially the OP. The Voice Actors also portray all the characters quite well,


Characters:-5/10
This is quite honestly the worst part of OPM. There is a large roster of characters, and each character is entertaining and most of them have a personality, but beyond that, nothing. None of the characters are developed in the slightest. Considering that this is meant to be a comedic show, I can understand why the characters are given little attention, but its genre doesn’t excuse it for giving absolutely zero attention to the characters. Even the main lead, Saitama, doesn’t have any development through the entire show. The only character who gets even a little development is Genos(and maybe Mumen Rider), and even he is neglected.


TL;DR for CHARACTERS: The show had entertaining characters and each characters had a personality, but none of them are given any time for development. None at all.


Enjoyment:-10/10
No matter how many flaws I point out in this show, there is one fact that I can’t deny. I loved this show, and it provided me an insane amount of enjoyment. That’s its greatest strength. No flaw I point out can change that.


Pros:
+Ridiculously enjoyable
+Very good comedy, if a bit repetitive.
+Amazing animation
+Brilliant Fight Sequences
+A decent setting
+A good soundtrack

Cons:
-Very Repetitive storyline
-A very underdeveloped cast
-Loses track of itself time to time.

TL;DR for Overall:
Overall, the anime as a whole is simply enjoyable, if I had to describe it in one word. The animation is amazing and the soundtrack is pretty good, and the comedy and action are great throughout the show. The opening and ending are really good, and the Voice Actors do their jobs well. The characters and story are what really needed some work, especially the character. If each character was developed just a little more, and the story was fleshed out a little more, then the show would’ve been much better.

As it stands now, it’s a very fun to watch show, but it has its flaws. If you are planning to watch this show, just remember to watch it without thinking too much about it. Just grab some fast food and chow down. Only then will you get the full enjoyment of the show.


Overall Rating: 7.6/10 – Watch it, you’ll have fun.

If you don't want to read, then there’s a tl;dr at the end, as well as a tl;dr for every section.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, or Your Lie in April, is 24-episode anime that started airing in October 2014, and ended in March 2015. Since its end, it has been a subject of hot debate on this site. Usually there are 2 types of people for any controversial show, those who love it to no end, and those who flat out despise it. I personally am somewhere on the fence.

Now is it the best anime ever? No. Is it bad? Definitely not. Then what ... exactly is Shigatsu?

Well, at its core Shigatsu is a story about a boy(Arima Kousei) who used to be a fantastic pianist at a young age. Unfortunately, during his growth, he lost his mother, something that left him unable to hear the piano ever again. Or at least until he met a violinist named Kaori Miyazono, who tries to help him return to music.

Well, that’s the basis of the story. Now onto the review.

Story:- 6/10

The story of Shigatsu has both good and bad sides to it. Before we delve into the bad, let’s take a look at the good.

The story, as you would normally expect, has a lot of romance, which is done pretty well. The romance in Shigatsu, is very heartfelt at times and also very fun at other times. The story tries to maintain a perfect balance of comedy and real romance, which does work, most of the time.

Unfortunately, this show is also a melodrama, which is the bad part. The drama in this show apparently got many people teary-eyed, but, I have a hard time believing that. The show tries way too hard to make you feel some “feels”, and pretty much drops flat on its face. The show constantly tries to shove its drama in your face, from episode 13 onwards, and it gets annoying at times. Before episode 13, it still had some dramatic moments, but those were much better done, showing Kousei’s inner fears.

As I previously mentioned, the show is filled with comedy, romance, and now, drama. When you but all these in a blender what do you get? Well if the blender was a good one, then you might get something amazing. But this wasn’t a good blender. Instead what we got was a drink with a beautiful exterior, but a bad aftertaste.

Since Shigatsu thinks it’s a drama, but also tries to make time for comedy and romance, we get painfully abrupt scenes of melodrama, followed closely by comedy, which does not fit at all.

One second we might be seeing a person die, and the other we see Kousei getting kicked by his “not-girlfriend”, Tsubaki.

Speaking of which, the romance aspect isn’t flawless either. Somewhere during the time that the show was trying to find what genre it belongs to, we got a love-triangle. Now, it really isn’t as bad as I make it sound, but it’s still a bit cliché at times. Boy A loves Girl A, Girl A loves Boy B, Girl B loves Boy A, and Boy B doesn’t give a shit.

The romance isn’t complex but it still does get stale at times.

But, for as much as I railed on the story, it has one saving grace. The ending. The final episode is probably the best part of this anime, in my opinion. It’s a simple monologue by the female lead, Kaori. But it’s so beautifully written that I couldn’t help but be engrossed by it.

TL;DR for STORY : The story has pretty good romance, which gets slightly stale near the middle. The excess of melodrama mixed with the comedy is probably the biggest flaw of the story, since those are two genres that should be implemented far away from each other. But, no matter how many flaws it has, its ending is beautiful in every way possible. Great writing, good background music, very good voice acting, and beautiful art. Speaking of art, let’s move on to the next section.


Art and Animation:- 9/10

The art of Shigatsu is probably the best part of it. It changes according to the mood of the scene, and fits the overall feel of the show. It’s very bright most of the time, and it everything ranging from the night sky to the school playground look gorgeous.

The character designs for the main characters are well done, and easily recognizable. The adults were also very well designed, to a point that you could actually guess their age. The only flaw I see with the character design are the children. It might just be me, but it’s weird to see children who have buttons for eyes, which makes them stand out in comparison to the rest of the cast.

Most of the time the animation is very fluent, and everything moves very nicely. The performance scenes are where the real budget went though. Accompanied with great music, it uses CGI for the piano, and extremely fluent animation for the violin. The CGI is a bit odd, and does stick out sometimes, but it did not distract from the focus of the scene, the performance.

TL;DR for ART : The art in Shigatsu is the best part of it, with a hefty use of colors, and a very bright scenery which changes according to the mood and feel of the scene. Most of the character designs are pretty good, besides the children in the show. The animation is fluent for the most part, and the performance scenes were amazing. Even though the CGI piano was a bit jarring at times, it didn’t distract me from what really mattered in the scene, the music.


Sound:- 8/10

Being an anime focused around music, one would normally think that the music of the show should be its strongest point, including me. But no, that’s sadly not the case.

Towards the beginning the performances were all amazing with the focus remaining solely on the performance and nothing else. But this is soon forgotten in the latter half of the show. The music itself is very good, or at least as much of the music I could hear.

The performances(in the latter half) are constantly interrupted by monologues, which are meant to bring up the drama, but instead come off as a distraction and an annoyance. Most of the performances I was yelling at the screen “Stop talking! I’m trying to listen to the brilliance that you’re playing!”. I personally am a fan of classical music, so when someone talks over it, I get very annoyed, and feel like punching a hole through the screen.

That being said, the overall soundtrack of the show, excluding the performances, was pretty good. Although no song really stood out to me.

The voice actors also do their jobs pretty well, with all of the voices fitting the characters. Especially Kaori and Kousei’s voice actors.

But of course, nothing in the show can top it’s masterful opening. Opening 1(Hikaru Nara), is probably one of the best openings I’ve ever heard in a while. The second opening(Nanairo Symphony) while not as good, was still great. Both endings were also pretty well done, but the second ending(Orange) is the better of the two.

TL;DR for MUSIC : The show should focus on music, but instead many of the performances are spoken over for the majority of the time. The show tried to bring drama into the mix again (by talking over the performances) but failed horribly in this case. The soundtrack of the show is pretty good, and the voice actors do the characters justice. Its openings and endings are few of the best of 2014, and Opening 1 is one of my favorite openings of all time.


Characters:- 5/10

This is where Shigatsu really fails. It’s not that there isn’t any character development, but certain characters, who needed development, didn’t get any. I’ll start with the good.

Kousei: He’s probably the character who is best developed throughout the entire show. After meeting Kaori, he starts to regain his will to play music, and starts to overcome his fears. Many other characters, including Kaori, act as foils in his development, like his friends, teacher, his rivals, and even his pupil. His development is the one that got the most focus in the entire story, but maybe even too much.

Kaori: This is where I feel that the characters fail. Since I can’t talk too much about Kaori without spoilers, I’ll be as careful as possible to avoid spoiling anything. Kaori is probably the character who had the most potential to develop, but instead, she was used as a mere plot device. Something to simply be present to help Kousei grow. While I did praise Kousei’s development, it’s not worth sacrificing the development of another character that could’ve grown into so much more. In fact, she was probably the character who I loved the most in the entire show, so I was extremely disappointed to see her get sidelined as a plot device with no depth at all.

Tsubaki: She’s the other main female lead, and the other love interest of Kousei. In other words Girl B. She also played a large role in Kousei’s development, but here, unlike Kaori, she also got some development. While she didn’t get a lot of development, she was still the second-most developed character in the show, which was a step in the right direction.

Other Characters: Most of the other characters are just treated as side characters, but some of them are developed. In fact Kousei’s rivals and his pupil, all get some development, which was nice to see.

TL;DR for CHARACTERS: The entire story of Shigatsu seems to focus on both Kousei and Kaori, but in fact it focuses just on Kousei. He is developed the most throughout the show, while Kaori gets the shortest possible end of the stick. Her development was expected, but it never came to be. The other characters sometimes got some development, and the other female love interest also got some development.


Enjoyment:- 8/10

As much as I might rag on the show, and no matter how many flaws I point out in it, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, some characters got on my nerves, and the performances were really disappointing when someone talked over them, but even with all those flaws, I still enjoyed watching it.

Most of the time I was engrossed by the beautiful exterior of the show, and at other times, I was yelling at the characters to stop talking over the music. But, it was still a fun ride.



Pros:
+ Great animation.
+ Brilliant Openings and Endings
+ A beautiful ending
+ A well developed main lead, and a likable cast of characters.
+ Enjoyable, if you don’t try to notice the flaws.

Cons:
- Terribly developed female lead, with a ton of misused potential
- Performances were often talked over
- Story tries way too hard to be a drama, but in reality is just a mediocre melodrama


TL;DR for OVERALL:

Overall, the anime definitely isn’t bad, but it doesn’t know what it wants to be. It thinks it’s a drama and tries to act like one, but it had much more potential as a simple romance. If it wanted to be a drama, then it didn’t need to add so much comic relief at every second. It keeps trying to get tears out of you, but it tries way too hard to do so. The characters were also something that needed a lot of work, with Kaori being one of the most misused characters in the show.

On the plus side, the anime looks gorgeous, and it has some of the best openings of all time, along with performances that could’ve been much better, but were still very well done. The final episode is also a very good part of the show, meaning that the show has a brilliant ending.

In the end, it’s not a masterpiece, nor is it garbage. It’s a good experience, that I can recommend watching.

Overall: 7.2/10

Psycho-Pass was undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the best, anime of the fall and winter season of 2012. So naturally, when a sequel was announced, people got really excited. They wanted to see more of the mind-games, more of the great characters, and more of the badass detective Kougami. And did this sequel deliver? Not at all.

Before I get into the review, I’d like to give a warning to those who haven’t seen season one of Psycho-Pass since this review will contain a few spoilers of the first season, also, go and watch the first season, like, right now. I’ll also say that, ... as much as I don’t want to, I will inevitably draw comparisons between both seasons.
Also, there’s a TL;DR at the end.


Story:- 5/10

Our story continues from about two years after where the last season ended. We see some familiar faces among our main cast, including Akane Tsunemori. We’re also introduced to two new enforcers(Tougane and Hinakawa) and one new inspector who was show at the end of the first season, Mika Shimotsuki(I’ll get into her character later). From there on, the show begins with a new antagonist, (whose name I cannot reveal, so I’ll just call him ‘K’ for the rest of the review.). The story then becomes a detective story of the police force chasing ‘K’.

The story of Psycho-Pass 2 is nowhere near as good as the first season. The reason for this comes from many different factors. The first, and in my opinion, the biggest contributing factor to the story’s lousiness, comes from the fact that this season is only 11 episodes long, half of the first season. That is the fundamental reason of why this story is flawed. 11 episodes is usually not enough time to create any detective story, let alone a complex one. This short length results in massive pacing problems which dampened my personal experience of the show.

The story aims to do too much in such a short span of time. In fact, it houses 4 arcs, in 11 episodes!
First there’s the obligatory introduction that took 2 episodes. Then there’s 3 other arcs, each of approximately 3 episodes(I won’t go into detail since, you know, spoilers)

The second reason as to why this story isn’t good, is the change of writers between both seasons. While I won’t blame the new writer for the bland story, I still think that keeping the same writers in both seasons would’ve been the better choice. For reference the writer for the first season was Gen Urobuchi, the man responsible behind such shows like, Fate/Zero and Madoka Magika, while the new writer (for the script) was Jun Kumagai, who definitely did not have the same acclaim as Urobuchi.

While I will say that the pacing and writing were bad, the story wasn’t terrible, it had a few positives along with the negatives, for example, a both of the arcs in the middle were pretty good, even if they were rushed.

Overall, the story had good promise, and it did fine, but the execution did not reach expectations. With 11 more episodes, and a better writer, this problem could’ve easily been avoided.


Art and Animation:- 9/10

The animation was something that I cannot complain about too much. The art style of the show remains relatively the same, following the saying the “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”

The animation feels very fluent in all the scenes, and in scenes that had some blood in them this show went all out, similar to the first season. All the action and gore heavy scenes were the main highlights in the show, and even in scenes where nothing was really happening, the animation was still good. The opening and ending animations are also very well done.

Although, I do have a few nitpicks. Sadly, the show still has the habit of making some human characters look stoned, mainly, Akane. Then there are the new character designs, which frankly, most of them look average to just bad. Even the main antagonist ‘K’ wasn’t very threatening at all, far from the brilliantly designed Makashima from the first season. Even the new enforcers, didn’t have that great of designs.

Another fault I find with the animation, is that the show rarely strays away from its comfort zone, meaning that the show doesn’t take a lot of risks with its animation at all, in fact I’d even go as far as to say that the animation did become a bit bland and tasteless at times.

But still these are mere nitpicks that aren’t too noticeable, so honestly, the animation of the show is great.


Sound:- 6/10

The soundtrack of Psycho-Pass 2, while bearable, did not rectify the flaws that the soundtrack of the first season had. While I still like the soundtrack for both seasons, they just don’t do that much for me. The soundtrack still lacks any track that I can listen to outside of the anime, excepting one or two tracks.

Although, while the soundtrack is a bit tasteless; the opening and ending for this season were not. Paired with some great animation, both the opening and ending are really good song that I rarely skipped over.

The voice actors also do their jobs pretty well, both in the dub (which is airing currently) and the sub. The main problem with the sub (or dub) was the distinct lack of any outstanding voice actor, the main reason for this being the absence of Kougami and Makashima in this season.

Overall, while the soundtrack was good, it wasn’t up to par. The opening and ending are both very well done, and the voice actors are good, but sometimes feel a bit bland.


Characters:- 3/10

This is the part where Psycho-Pass 2 lacked the most. The characters in the first season were all very well developed, and even the side characters had proper development. This season just threw that out the window and instead gave no development to any of the characters; aside from the one I hated the most.

A big fault I find with the show’s characters is that none of the side characters were given any respect by the writers. One of the main reasons I loved the first season is because of the side characters and their development, but this season just doesn’t do that.

But that’s not the biggest problem, far from it. The biggest problem this show’s characters have is the main characters, including the main antagonist ‘K’. The main characters comprise of ‘K’, Akane, the new enforcer Tougane, and the new inspector Mika. None of these characters are developed well, at all.

1. Akane Tsunemori:- Akane is the main character for both the first and second seasons of Psycho-Pass. Her character was first introduced (in the first season) as a young learning inspector. By the beginning of the second season, her character had matured, and she has learned to handle situations much more efficiently. But this leads to the problem in the second season. Her character had already developed to extreme heights. Thus, her development in the second season is practically non-existent.

2. Sakuya Tougane:- Tougane is the new enforcer in division 1 (Akane’s Division). His character acts as a “replacement” for the absence of Kougami. .. And that’s pretty much all I can reveal about him, mainly because most of the rest of his character is a gigantic spoiler. But even though he has a large role in the story, his character doesn’t change throughout the show. His character seems like more of a plot-device than an actual character.

3. ‘K’:- ‘K’ is the main antagonist that we learn more about as the show progresses. Now, without spoiling anything, the main criticism I have against him is his goal. His goal, to me, seems extremely basic, and at times I feel that it is uninspired.

4. Mika:- Now, for Mika. Mika is the absolute worst character in this show. By far. Her attitude to both enforcers and Akane herself is complete disrespect, and she believes that all that the Sybil decides is correct. Even to the extent that she would disobey her own superiors. But the most annoying thing about her character is that she was the only person who had potential to improve as a character, but she doesn’t. Her character could’ve easily matured in a way similar to how Akane’s character matured in the first season, and unfortunately, she doesn’t.

Overall, by the end of the show, none of the characters really developed well. The side characters weren’t given any development, and the main characters are either developed very little, or they aren’t developed at all. This lack of development could also be blamed on the short length of the show.


Enjoyment:- 8/10

While I did rag on the show a lot, I must admit that during my time watching it I really did have a good time. Even when the show ripped itself apart during the final arc, I did enjoy it, albeit, for the wrong reasons. The 2 major flaws that dampened my enjoyment, was the hilariously bad story, and the annoying piece of trash, that was Mika.


Pros:
-Brilliant setting
-Very good animation
-Decent soundtrack
-Enjoyable to a certain degree
-The 2 arcs in the middle were very good
-Good opening and ending
-Good Sub as well as Sub

Cons:
-Disappointment in comparison to the first season
-Bland and hastily written story
-The lack of Kougami could disappoint some people
-The main villain wasn’t good
-Character development is non-existent
-Terrible pacing


TL;DR Overall, the show was a huge let-down to people who liked the first season. It’s small number of episodes leads to the bad pacing, as well as the lack of character development. The main villain didn’t have a very interesting goal, and the side characters were completely ignored. For people who are expecting Kougami in this season don’t, he doesn’t even physically appear in the show. The animation of the show is great, and the soundtrack is decent. I enjoyed it while I was watching it, and I think most people will too. As long as you don’t think about it, you’ll at least enjoy it. Thus, this leads me to giving this show a rating of:-

OVERALL:- 6.2/10

Ah, Akame ga Kill, a show hyped up immensely for the Fall of 2014. To be honest, I was really looking forward to watching the show when it was first announced. I have read the manga, and I thought it was at least decent, if nothing else, and it should’ve been decent as anime material as well, but no, it wasn’t.

Instead what we got was a messily-written, poorly adapted mess of a show that killed itself by the end of it all.

Now, before I start this review, let me just note, that even though I’ve read the manga, I will be judging this show based ... on its own merits. There’s also a TL;DR at the end for anyone who doesn’t want to read so much.


Story:- 3/10

The story of Akame ga Kill revolves around a young boy, Tatsumi, from a village who sets out to join the military in the capital in order to gain money for his village. Unfortunately, once he does reach the capital, he realizes that the capital is in fact, a corrupt place which was all caused by the person who manipulates a young emperor to his whim, the Prime Minister. Later, through a strange course of events, he is semi-forced to join a group, named Night Raid, which is in fact a band of assassins who are attempting the break the empire.

Seems good doesn’t it? Well, yes. The premise is a pretty good setup. But don’t let that fool you. The show starts off pretty good, especially the first 2 episodes, but after that it’s all downhill.

The main praise that the story of Akame ga Kill gets is the praise that it had the guts to kill off its own characters. While that may be, you barely get to know anything about the character before they die, meaning that, the character deaths never got to me at an “emotional scale”.

The story has very weird pacing, one episode a main character could’ve died, while in the next, the rest of the characters are on a beach laughing and playing. The story keeps jumping around, and at times it became incomprehensible. The show also has a harem aspect, which at times, got really annoying since it was completely unnecessary and it just wasted time.

Along with this, there’s also the fact that the story feels very rushed. There were a lot of things that were left unanswered, and while I won’t specify anything, the last 5 episodes were completely asinine.


Art and Animation:- 6/10

The animation of Akame ga Kill was done by White Fox, a studio known for such works like Steins; Gate and Jormungand. Unfortunately, this is definitely not their best work. The most I can say about the animation is that it’s very bland. The lack of attention to detail is, quite frankly, disgusting. The only real thing that stands out in the show’s animation is its average quality, and that is not what I look for in an animation studio.

Though, there are two positives to the animation, those are, the well done fight sequences, and the excess of blood shown, something that a lot of recent anime seem to avoid.

Overall, while the animation of the show isn’t bad, it’s nothing great.


Sound:- 5/10

Moving away from the art, we have the music, which is just as average as the art, if not worse. The soundtrack of the show is so bland, that I had to go re-watch a few episodes just to see how good or bad the soundtrack was, and now, I still can’t remember how it was.

Both openings of the show were pretty decent, and the second ending was also good, the first ending though, didn’t do that much for me.

But now we arrive at the voice actors. Oh god, these voice actors. This show provided me with some of the absolute most clichéd voices I’ve heard in anime for some time. If someone’s and antagonist, then their voice just shouts “I’M THE BAD GUY!”, and if someone was a protagonist, their voice shouted “I’M THE GOOD GUY!”.


Character:- 1/10

This is the section where this anime, like many others before it, falls flat on its face. But this one doesn’t just fall; it falls into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again.

Let me just say it flat out. The characters in Akame ga Kill, are the most clichéd, stereotypical and straight up least developed characters I’ve ever seen. Even some terrible shows, like Pupa, had more interesting characters that had some kind of depth to them, and I’m not kidding.

Let me just spell out the stereotypes for you.
Tatsumi is the young hero who wants to become strong. Akame is the classic case of a cold uncaring assassin, who also happens to be a food junkie. Leone is the Onee-San, who loves to make sexual references to the youngest in the group, in this case, Tatsumi. Lubbock is the perverted guy who’s actually nice-hearted, but still tries to sneak in a peek at some ladies. Sheele is the airhead. Bulat is the strong dependable older brother of the show, to whom Tatsumi looks up to. *cough*Kamina*cough*.

Chelsea and Najenda were the only two characters who I actually cared for, not because they were developed, but because they were the only characters who were even remotely realistic.

The we have the most classic case of Mine. Mine is a tsundere.

What? You expected more? Well tough shit, there is nothing more. That’s it, she’s a pure Tsundere with no effort put into her character.

We also have the ever so popular Esdeath for you Yandere-lovers out there. She’s a Yandere, and a sadistic one at that. Again, there’s nothing more to her character.

In the end though, I did care for a certain group of characters, the rivals of Night Raid, who are the assassins for the empire, the Jaegers. This group was a bit more interesting and entertaining in comparison to the shit-fest that was Night Raid.

So in the end Akame ga Kill, has one or two decent characters, but the negatives completely outweigh the positives in this section.

Enjoyment:- 7/10
This is the best part of this anime. Regardless of its numerous flaws, I enjoyed watching the anime, even if it wasn’t exactly enjoyable for the right reasons. In the first half of the show I enjoyed watching the anime without noticing its flaws. Towards the middle, that enjoyment turned to distaste as I watched while noticing most of its flaws. By the end I was laughing my ass off as to how hilariously bad the show had become.


Pros:
-A good premise
-Average animation
-Decent action
-Good openings and endings
-Slightly enjoyable
-There wasn’t any censorship

Cons:
-Terrible execution of story
-Horribly written characters
-Forgettable soundtrack
-Poorly adapted(For manga readers)
-The ending was awful


TL;DR :- Overall, Akame ga Kill, was a poorly adapted show. It had a decent premise which went wrong. In its technical department it could not have been more average, and the characters are stereotypical, bland and underdeveloped to no extent. The show starts off as a dark and gritty shounen that could've become a seinen, but eventually it just devolved into a generic shounen that was as average as average can be.

OVERALL: 4.4/10

"Onii-chan, you're delicious." ~ Yume

Pupa, otherwise known as Onii-chan the anime, is a so-called "anime" which I first stumbled upon in the review section on MAL. It caught my attention when I saw the low scores it got. I thought to myself "It can't be that bad.... Right?"

I could not have been more mistaken.


Pupa's story revolves around the brother-sister relationship of Utsutsu and Yume. Two orphaned siblings who have to support each other to live on. That is, until a deadly disease dubbed- "Pupa" infects Yume (much like the way this show infected the anime community, ironically). This new disease causes Yume to have a ... insatiable hunger for humans. And the first person she eats, is none other than her brother, who comes back to life after being infected as well.

The story has a surprisingly decent premise, which promises a decent anime of the horror genre. Unfortunately, that was the only positive part of this entire anime.

Now for the laundry list of flaws.

While the premise of the story is good, the actual story is rushed to an unimaginable level. This is mainly due to the fact that each episode is no-more than 5 minutes long, yes, only 5 minutes per episode. It's plainly visible why the story is so rushed. It is impossible for the writers or anyone to explain the story to the viewer when every episode has a maximum of 4 minutes of actual story, the rest being OP and ED times.

Speaking of the writers, the script of the show is the most unintentionally hilarious thing you can imagine. The script for every episode contains at least two lines of Yume saying - "Onii-chan" in the most incestuous way possible. This failure of scriptwriting can easily be found in the infamous episode 6. The entire 4 minutes, it shows Yume, eating her brother, and saying Onii-chan, OVER, AND OVER AGAIN. For the entire episode.

Now on to the technical department of the show.

Seeing as each episode is so short, you would expect every episode to have at least tolerable animation. But no, of course not, life isn't fair. Even the animation is a victim to the lazy disease that seems to have affected everybody involved in the show.

The music of the show is tolerable. The opening isn't half bad, and considering the size of each episode, the music isn't terrible either. But unfortunately, the disgusting lack of talent that went into the voices of the characters is what drags the score down. It's probably not the fault of the Voice actors that the characters suck, more so the writers faults for giving them such shitty lines to read.

As for the characters, I've got nothing to say. None of the characters go through any kind of development, and how could they when every episode is only 5 minutes long?! If I had to say anything about the characters it's that Yume and her "Onii-chan" are two of the worst characters anime has seen.

In all honesty, I'd suggest this anime to everyone. It needs to be seen by all, as an example of how to not make an anime. Who knows, you might even enjoy it, although I highly doubt it.


Pros:
+...Uhhh... Good incest ?

Cons:
-Short episodes
-Hurl-Inducing art and sound
-Inexcusable scriptwriting
-Terrible characters.

What do those Cons spell? SHIT.

"Whether were up against elves or god, Blank never loses" ~ Sora

Truer words have never been spoken.

No Game No Life(NGNL) is one of the most controversial anime in recent history. It's an anime that people either shun, or they love. And both sides have very legitimate reasons for supporting their beliefs. But is it really that good(or bad)?


Story:- 7/10

I, like many others, LOVE the premise of NGNL. The idea of living in a world where everything is decided by games has brilliant potential to be an amazing anime. But I feel that NGNL misused this potential. The story has two major flaws. The main characters, ... Sora and Shiro, are AMAZING at games. They have never lost a game in the real world and even in the new game world, they have no intention to lose, and the don't lose. EVER.

This makes the story extremely predictable and at times, boring. I never found the conclusion of any game to be even remotely surprising. The enjoyment doesn't come from the ending of the game, it comes from the road to reach that conclusion. Although this makes the games enjoyable it doesn't give the element of suspense that "game" anime need.

Including the misused potential, the story feels a bit rushed. But the biggest flaw of the story is the completely inconclusive ending. It's a completely crap ending that doesn't solve anything or even give a cliffhanger. It just ends abruptly. If a second season is made, then the story probably will rise to an 8 out of a 10.

Overall, the story has an immense amount of potential, but it's potential is completely misused due to a predictable plotline and a disgusting ending.


Art:- 8/10

The art style of NGNL is arguably amazing. But due to the bright nature of the show, that's debatable. The show uses an extremely high amount of pink, and before I sound like a sexist, no, the color itself doesn't bother me. But the excess of any color annoys me and this anime drops like 200 liters of pink on the screen. It caused a small strain to my eyes which did take me out of the anime. But, to be fair, the art style compliments the anime very well. It''s a very unique art style to choose out of the many that they could've.

The fanservice is what REALLY bugs me. It's abundance throughout the anime is extremely grating. While I do understand that much of the humor of the show comes from the fanservice, there still was a huge amount of fanservice, and it got in the way of the actual visuals and took my attention away from many main plot points.


Sound:- 8/10

The sound of NGNL one of it's high points. The opening of the show is of very good quality and the ending is pretty good. The soundtrack is very good and each track compliments the scene they represent in the anime. The only fault I find with the soundtrack is that none of the tracks are of high quality when listened to without the visuals complimenting it.

The Japanese dub of the show is, naturally, pretty good. Every voice actor does their respective character's personality justice.


Character:- 4/10

The characters of NGNL is where it lacks the most. None of the characters are developed at all throughout the series. So let's look at the roster and see how bad it really is.

Sora: To define Sora, you can call him a comedic version of Light(Death Note) or Lelouch(Code Geass). He's a cocky dick, but he has complete reason to act like one. He also is obsessed with women, and is probably a pervert?

Shiro: Shiro, the sister of Sora, is an emotionless version of Sora. She can easily predict what artificial intelligence will do. And like Sora, she also can be classified as a pervert? And she's 11, by the way.

Stephanie Dola: Steph is the fanservice pig and the exposition pig of the show. She exists for the sole purpose of explaining the protagonist's plots to the viewer. It is in this way that I feel that her character was completely misused.

The rest of the characters are all underdeveloped and bland pieces of garbage. By judging the amount I've written about the characters, you can tell that the character have no depth at all.

Also, aside from the god Tet, Sora and 2 others, all the other characters in the show are female. Let that sink in.


Enjoyment: 9/10

Even if the story and characters of the show are bad, the show was extremely enjoyable. It got a lot of laughs out of me and it also made me clap for the genius protagonists many times over.

OVERALL:
PROS:
+Good premise
+Good music
+Likable main characters(Even if they are underdeveloped)
+Good animation
+Very enjoyable

CONS:
-Poor execution of the story
-Underdeveloped characters
-Art can cause strain on the eyes
-Horrible ending
-Heavily misused potential

Final Score: 7/10

"Another" is a 12 episode "horror" anime which is reminiscent of the movie franchise: "Final Destination". It also has one of the most retarded and most meaningless title of an anime ever.

Story:- 7

The story of "Another" revolves around a stereotypical moron of a male character named Sakakibara Kouichi. Kouichi transfers to a school named Yomiyama middle school. When he arrives there he meets the girl Misaki Mei. He then notices that no one else in his class, sees this girl.

It is at this point that the story hits a roadblock. Without spoiling too much, all I can say is that people start dying. The story ... could've tried to uncover the reason of these deaths, but instead of that the story decides to try and search for a was to stop the cause. I personally think that the story would've been much better if it tried to search for the cause of the deaths instead of a way to prevent the deaths. They merely mark off the reason as a "curse". This is a big flaw of the story.

The pacing of the story is flawed. The first 4 episodes build up the next 8. But for a 12 episode series 4 episodes of build up is 2 too many. The final two episodes of the show are extremely rushed.

Overall, while the premise of the show is good, the problems come in the execution and pacing of the show. The story should've gone in a different route to be a better show of the mystery genre, and the show should've been around 18 episodes to fix the pacing issues.


Art:- 8

The art of "Another" is one of the higher points of the series. The art of the series is very well done and helps in setting the tone of the show. The art is very dark and supports the show being horror genre. The animation isn't amazing, but every death scene is done perfectly. The death scenes are all perfectly set up and bring a tense environment into the scenes.

The main reason one can commend "Another"'s animation is the blood in the show. The anime is very gory and you probably won't like it if you're squeamish.

The character design of the show is pretty good, the character's all look like they're in middle school and for once all their body parts are proportionate.


Sound:- 8

The soundtrack of the show is very good. It perfectly sets up the theme of the show which is "horror". The soundtrack is very creepy, most of the time.

The opening, though, is a whole different story. It's complete garbage. I cannot stand listening to the opening of the show. The ending of the show is good though.

The dub of the show is good. Not better than the subbed version, but it still is good. The voice actors in both are very good, and both the dub and sub represent the character very well.


Character:- 3

The characters is where the show falls on it's face. With the exception of Misaki, all the other characters get no development at all. Misaki as well suffers from this since she also gets minimal development.

The main male character is a bland piece of shit. The show merely uses him as a P.O.V. camera to show us what is happening around him.

The other students in the show also get zero development, aside from the "Head of Countermeasures" Akazawa Izumi. She is one of the most annoying and worthless characters in the show. The show continuously tries to get you to believe that she is actually important to the story, which she is not. Unfortunately, she's one of the few characters who receives development.

The character development problems could've been easily fixed by lengthening the episode number. I just couldn't care for the death of people who got no development.


Enjoyment:- 8

Regardless of how much I shout at the show, it is an enjoyable show. To draw a parallel to Final Destination again, no matter how stupid the show is, you will still enjoy it for the bullshit mystery and creative deaths. I liked it while watching it, and only after rewatching it, can I point out the flaws.


Final Result:

Pros:
+ Good premise
+ Very good gore
+ Very good animation
+ Good soundtrack
+ Enjoyable death scenes
+ Proper breast sizes(for middle school)

Cons:
- Disgusting cast of characters
- Horrible opening
- "Meh" pacing
- Cliched storyline
- Annoying as shit side character, A.K.A. Akazawa Izumi
- Probably should've been longer to be better.

Overall:- 6.50

"Regret you helplessness, and feel despair" ~ Makishima Shougo

Psycho-Pass. This anime. It is by-and-far the best anime of 2013. It's an amazing anime with great visuals, a unique story, brilliant characters and hands-down one of the best anime in the mystery genre out there. It is, a masterpiece... Almost.


Story:- 10/10

(a)Premise: The story of Psycho-Pass takes place in a futuristic world where everything is controlled by a system called the "Sybil" system. All humans now depend on this system, to make any of their "life" decisions. This, in turn, affects the crime system of the world. Now people are judged to be a criminal by their ... mental state. If a person's mental state crosses a specific limit, they are considered to be parallel.

(b)Originality: The story of Psycho-Pass is one of the most original stories ever presented in any anime. The story masterfully confronts problems with human nature. It also highlights the problems of humans depending on technology too much.

(c)Pacing:The story does take some time to get moving, but if the watcher has some patience, then the story in perfectly paced.

It has a minimal amount of time skips and completely explains everything to the user, without making the user feeling spoon-fed, or bored.

(d)Ending: The ending is the only part of Psycho-Pass' story which I find "average". The ending is definitely unsatisfactory. But seeing as there is a new season coming in the October of 2014, it probably won't stay that way for long.


Art and Animation:- 9/10

(a)Art: Production I.G. was the animation studio for Psycho-Pass. This studio was responsible for the animation of Shingeki no Kyojin, Prince of Tennis, Kuroko's Basket, Guilty Crown. So one can clearly tell that the art will be amazing. But in the case of Psycho-Pass, the art isn't good, it's brilliant. The art in Psycho-Pass is extremely realistic. The world is designed as a dark place, coated with a beautiful exterior.

(b)Animation: There isn't too much "stand-out" animation in Psycho-Pass. The animation isn't bad per-say, but it it's merely average. Aside from the many action scenes scattered throughout the series.

(c)Character Design: The characters of Psycho-Pass are all very well-designed and are very realistic. Aside from the female lead, Akane Tsunemori. As you'll hear from most of the people who have seen this show, she looks like she's permanently "stoned". The rest of the characters are all very well designed, and although all of them look normal, they still look unique in there own right.


Sound:- 7/10

(a)Soundtrack: The sound director of Psycho-Pass is Yugo Kanno, who's a newcomer to the world of anime soundtracks. And this is definitely not going to be his best work. The soundtrack does definitely compliment the setting of the show, which is "Sci-Fi". It also uses many famous symphonies from Ludwig van Beethoven and Achille-Claude Debussy. But the soundtrack itself isn't very good. Aside from a few tracks the entire OST is nothing special.

(b)Openings and Endings: The second opening of the show is the better one of the two. The endings are not too good.

(c)Sub and Dub: Between the subbed version and the dubbed version, the subbed is definitely more recommended. While most of the voices in the dubbed version are good, the voice of the main antagonist(Makashima) and the main female lead(Akane) are unbearably cliche in the dubbed version. Plus, Makashima's voice in the subbed version is amazing.


Characters:-10/10

(a)Main Characters: The main characters are the best part of Psycho-Pass. There are 3 main characters.

Shinya Kougami: He's the main "protagonist" of the series. He's a detective, and a damn good one at that. His character could've been a little better developed, but honestly, he didn't need much more development.

Makashima Shougo: He's the main antagonist of the entire series. He is the best of any character in the series. He's a smart bastard with a sadistic sense of "humor". He's introduced towards the beginning of the series, and is perfectly developed throughout the show. His character is one who can easily control his mental state easily, and his ideals are one's some people can agree with. He easily manipulates multiple people and considers Kougami his rival. Every second he's on screen is a moment of pure elegance.

Akane Tsunemori: Akane his the most controversial character of the series, specifically because she looks like she's permanently high. The story is seen through mainly her eyes. She acts as a sort-of P.O.V. camera for the series. She is also developed very well throughout the show.

(b)Side Characters: There is a gigantic list of side characters in Psycho-Pass. And every character is amazing. Every last one of the characters is treated with proper respect by the show. Each one gets a decent amount of screentime and are developed very well.


Enjoyment:-9/10

The show keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat throughout the entire show. There are a multiple number of plot-twists in the show as well as great action scenes.

Overall the story has great pacing, characters and art. The only place for improvement is in the sound. The setting is brilliant and unique beyond belief and the dub is better than average.

Overall: 9.0/10.0

*SPOILER FREE REVIEW*

Shingeki no Kyojin or Attack on Titan is by and far the most popular and hyped anime of the year 2013. It has received much praise from all sides of the anime community and it is usually agreed upon that it is at least a “good” anime. Though the question is, is it overhyped?


Story:- 7

(a)Premise:
The story of SnK is one which, at first glance, doesn’t show originality. It is a classic “zombie” movie, just with the zombies being gigantic. The premise revolves around, gigantic man-eating creatures named “Titans”. These titans pose a gigantic threat to humanity’s existence. Thus humanity creates 3 walls, which ... protect them from the titans, but for how long?
Soon the wall is broken and the first protective wall is abandoned. Here, we meet our 3 main characters, Eren, Mikasa and Armin. Eren has just lost his mother in the titan attack and swears vengeance against all titans.

(b)Originality:
Thus the story truly begins. I call this a non-original story since, there are many anime that have a post-apocalyptic world where humans are constantly under the threat of attack from an external source shrouded in mystery (Like Evangelion and Gurren Lagann). The story also revolves around the survival aspect that many anime use. But, it is here that the story stops being similar to other anime. The rest of the anime is completely original filled with plot twists in every other episode.

(c)Pacing:
The pace of SnK is “weird”. After the first few episodes there is a 3 year time skip, while later on in the series, there is an “arc” which goes on for around 5-6 episodes, but takes place in 1 day.
Throughout the entirety of the series, it keeps the viewer exited for the next episode and keeps the story going at a ridiculously fast pace.

(d)Ending:
The ending of the series is extremely unsatisfactory. But as of now, a second season may be coming in 2015.


Art and Animation:- 9

(a)Art:
The art of SnK is of the best art in recent anime. The quality of the art is amazingly good, which is ironic, since the art in the manga wasn’t that good. Every single human and area shown in the anime is extremely detailed. For example, the art style shown in the outer and middle wall shows the cities to be filled to the brim with buildings everywhere. While on the other hand we have the complete opposite in the inner wall, which shows an abundance of nature and beauty.

(b)Animation:
The animation in SnK is a gigantic step in animation for all of anime. Specifically the scenes which utilize the use of 3-D maneuver gear. The 3-D maneuver gear is basically a piece of equipment given to the soldiers which allows them to become spiderman. The animation in the scenes with the maneuver gear is brilliant. It gives a sense of actual movement to the viewer.
The scenes with normal animation still seem very unique when compared to the animation style presented in other anime.

(c)Character Design:
The design of every human character is extremely unique and no character looks like a “normal” anime character. Every character looks like an actual human would look. For example, unlike other main character of other (Shonen) anime, our main characters in SnK all have, average human bodies with average looking hair.
The titan’s designs on the other hand, degrade as the series goes on. At the beginning of the series, the titans all looked creepy, but as the series continues the titans go from creepy to borderline retarded. For example, in episode 5 we are introduced to a Moe Titan and a Darwin Titan.


Sound:-9.5

(a)OST or Soundtrack:
Masafumi Mima was the one who directed the soundtrack for Shingeki No Kyojin. His previous works were nothing worth mentioning, but his work for this soundtrack in particular, it masterful. Every song just screams the word “epic” into your ear while listening to the soundtrack.
Every piece of music has german words thrown into it and uses choirs as an accompaniment for the lead music or singer.

(b)Openings and Ending:
There can only be one way to define the first opening of the series. Eargasm. The opening, on its own, has reached a higher hype level then the actual anime, which is saying a lot.
The second opening is garbage when compared to the first one, but when heard on its own it is a pretty good song.
Both endings of the series, while not terrible, are easily overshadowed by the 2 openings.

(c)Sub and Dub:
The subbed version of the series is more recommended than the dubbed in this case. It’s not that the dub is bad, but the sub it’s just better. The dub for SnK is fine, but Eren sounds ridiculously old for his age.


Character:-3

(a)Main characters:
The characters of SnK are the worst part of it. There is almost no development for any character aside from Armin.
Eren is the stereotypical “revenge junkie” for anime and doesn’t evolve any further than that.
Mikasa is the main problem. She is extremely overpowered. Awesome, but overpowered. But here biggest flaw is her affection for Eren. Unlike characters like Levi, who are overpowered, but not overly affectionate, Mikasa has an unreal amount of love for Eren.
Armin is the only main character in the series that goes through any development. He goes from a weak character to a person who uses tact in battles.
(b) Supporting Cast:
The supporting cast of SnK is mediocre at best. Some characters get little to no attention while other go through some development. Examples of a few good supporting characters in SnK are Sasha, Jean, Hange, Annie, Erwin and Levi.


Enjoyment:-8

The series as a whole was very enjoyable. It was a good shonen which was slow at some points. It keeps you on your toes by giving cliffhangers on every episode doing something like Code Geass achieved. The soundtrack was epic and the animation was brilliant. The ending, while was unsatisfactory, made you excited for the next season.

Is it overhyped? Maybe. That depends on your personal preference. It does praise, but definitely not as much as it gets.

The action scenes get your blood pumped up, the crappy character development will make you facepalm and the retarded titan designs will probably make you spit out your drink.

OVERALL= 7.2 out of 10

*SPOILER FREE REVIEW*

In October of 2013 to the March of 2014 an anime was released, named Log Horizon. At first people took it for a mere clone of the .hack franchise and Sword Art Online, but what they didn't know, was that it was so much more.


Story:- 7.8
The story of Log Horizon is nothing special or unique. It is basically what we have seen before in Sword Art Online and the .Hack franchise. People get stuck in a MMORPG video game, that’s the most basic way to explain this type of show. But unlike other shows with this type of plot, in Log Horizon, if ... our characters die in this game, they respawn like they would in a real video game. This changes everything drastically since now our characters will not die. The entire concept is now unique from other shows who have followed this "stuck in a game" route.

This allows the story to have a much less serious tone and thus allows for the viewer to have a good time with the anime. Instead of focusing on how to get out of the game, the anime focuses on how to adapt to the characters new "home".

The only negative point about the story is that is a bit formulaic and cliché as well as the fact that for now the anime doesn't has no real or satisfying ending. But this can easily be fixed by the second season which comes out in the Fall of 2014. Another thing that this anime had in the negative side was the lack of much suspense. There were cliffhangers, but very few of them.


Art:- 7.2
The art and animation in the story was great while not being perfect. The scenery was good but nothing to write home about. The main focus, as one would expect, is the fights. But the flaw with this is that the fight scenes aren't focused on the actual fighting and the camera is usually focused on strategic aspects of the story.


Sound:- 7.0
The sound of this anime is one of the lower points of the show. There aren’t any really brilliant songs in the soundtrack. The opening song “Database” is a completely different beast altogether. It’s a brilliant song which many will shun on their first listen but as the anime continues, the song will definitely grow on you and will possibly get stuck in your head. Not too fond of the rap section though.

The anime as of now doesn’t have a dub and will probably not have one in the coming years, but the Japanese dub of the show is pretty good.

Overall the soundtrack is merely average or at best good, the opening and ending are both very good, and the voice acting is good.


Characters:- 8.0
The characters are the best part of this anime. Each character has a specific personality, including both the main and supporting characters.

Shiroe is our main protagonist throughout the story. While seen as “evil” or “cunning” by the many people present in the game, but the people who are close to him know that he’s a kind hearted person. To state his place in battles, you can call him a Tactician who doesn’t lead the army, but passes strategic orders that help him and his friends to win in battle.

Naotsugu is the stock “best friend pervert” of the story. He’s mainly used as a comic relief character, but in battle he is used in a much better way, being the “tank” of the group.

Akatsuki can be described as a classic tsundere. Her character does gain depth throughout the story but not by much. There are many running gags with her like her actual age, and her kicking Naotsugu and later asking permission to do so from Shiroe. These gags do get stale very soon, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a few laughs from it. Her place in the battle is to kill opponents swiftly and gather information secretly as her class, assassin, allows her to do.

Though the main characters are nothing brilliant on their own, what really makes the show shine is the gigantic list of supporting cast. Each and every side character has a backstory , and is overall well designed. The characters range from a flamboyant mage to a cat chef, and if I tried to define each character in detail, then I would be here for months.


Enjoyment: 7.5
If you want to know whether Log Horizon is better than Sword Art Online or the .Hack franchise, then yes, it’s much better.

The main attraction about the anime, is that it actually feels like a game with the respawning, NPCs, classes, shops, guild etc. While other anime that follow this concept feel much more “serious”, Log Horizon takes itself much less seriously. It knows what it is and doesn’t try to act serious.
It’s a light hearted anime with fun moments scattered throughout it, and decent action scenes when the action is actually shown.

Overall I got a lot of fun out of Log Horizon, the story was nothing special , nor was the concept. But the execution of the concept is what really hits the ball out of the park. The characters are well designed, and each one has an intriguing personality, and is actually useful in the story. It’s a simple story, but it has its own charm about it.


Overall=7.5