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Re:Zero is like an old fashioned video game (e.g. Touhou, Dark Souls) where you keep dying again and again, painstakingly finding the correct route to beat one single stage. Re:Zero's premise is exactly that, together with that satisfying feeling when you finally clear one stage of a game after many hours, or even days of trying. But what does Re:Zero do to give this compelling satisfaction?

Re:Zero comes to the scene meaning serious business. With consistently high production values and fluid animation, it puts the story and the main character at the foremost importance. The setting of medieval fantasy, used in countless RPGs is truly brought ... to life. While the visuals are vivid and full of colour in a romanticised manner, Re:Zero brings the viewer in to the harsh reality of the "medieval".

Perhaps, they may have slightly overdone the "reality", with copious amounts of blood spilled throughout the course of the season, but this still remains compelling. For such harsh conditions are most likely plausible in a world infused with "closed-minded" medieval customs (i.e. the human condition), magic and monsters.

As with past shounen shows (e.g. Sword Art Online), we have our self-insert and multiple waifu and husbando baits. Except the characters (including the waifus) actually are easily relatable for the most part and the personalities are well-developed. Major and minor characters are given appropriate screen time, yet the viewer can easily bond with most of them. A remarkable feat in comparison to Code Geass and Dog Days where perhaps, the cast bloat detracted from the main story.

The combination of the harsh setting and competent handling of the characters results in a wild, rollercoaster ride as you really become one with the character. Multiple perspectives can be easily seen through a little empathy, resulting in a heart-wrenching ride. With every situation where "Character B refuses to understand Character A?", the dialogue and events play out in a plausible manner from opposing perspectives. The writing is far, far deeper and intricate than "Character B is an ass, for the sake of DRAMA."

For the most part anyway. Sadly, this is not true of the villain in the final arc where his characterization was agonizingly simple compared with the rest of the cast. However, the choreography, animation, and the villain's abilities produced a compelling battle that led Subaru's to develop his maturity by being able to reconciliate and develop as a character.

The above instruments create a remarkable shounen fare, supplemented by a mix of gore, shock value and comic-relief moments to tell a credible story. While the rather unsophisticated ending may disappoint some, it is the journey and the very gradual development of our protagonist, Subaru, which is the source of great satisfaction.

(Minor SPOILERS will follow from here)

With the abstract out the way, the below is more of a personal analysis (aka text wall!).

Our protagonist, Subaru is a NEET whose ego comes from being good at video games is suddenly transported to a seemingly generic fantasy world without consent. Much like the big learning curve at the start of every RPG, Subaru has plenty to learn. And he dies a lot in the process. Except he rewinds back in time to "respawn" at the previous autosave point. With every "life", the viewer learns about the new world, together with Subaru.

The producers wisely chose to not infodump, or to spend almost half its runtime in "exploring" the world. Many anime suffer from jarring switches from "comedy" in the first half to "serious" in the second half which alienates the viewer who came seeking for comedy (e.g. Lady Jewelpet). Instead, the different choices that Subaru makes after each respawn gives him, and the viewer a greater perspective and knowledge of the world he is dealing with. This synchronization of viewer knowledge with Subaru's work beneficially to strengthen the bond between viewer and character.

Subaru works excellently as a protagonist. He shares many similarities with viewers in that he's a socially awkward nerd. He retains enough generic traits to self-insert, yet has a level of decisiveness and spine. Much of his overinflated ego comes from him initially treating the new world as a "Game" with his hot-headedness, pride and elitist traits matching what is commonly seen on discussion forums of a certain game...or E-Sport. I mean, LOL right? Literally.

Instead, this "Game" is another version of "Real Life", as Subaru painfully learns through his multiple death streak. This is even compounded by people who matter to Subaru also going on a death streak as a result of his decisions. Despite some very short introductions to characters, the meaningful dialogues and the personalities displayed quickly make these characters matter to the viewer as well.

The deaths are for the most part, sudden and gory, adding a sense of shock value and trauma. The deaths are even varied, which works as a counter to the viewer getting "too used" to the shock value and becoming sanitized. While some may argue such things are mere gimmicks, the pain and shock is highly costly and links closely with Subaru's psychological deterioration through parts of the story. It also serves to emphasise that Subaru has all 5 of his senses active and sends home the message that he is very vulnerable. Giving the viewer this message is very important as the closest the viewer may get to his situation is video games, where one only usually uses 2, perhaps 3 of the 5 senses (sight and sound).

Failure, after trying so hard hurts, with Linkin Park's "In The End" coming to mind to illustrate this pain. With each death, Subaru is increasingly fatigued, and shows clear signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. For he had made "correct" choices, developed relationships, started homing in towards the ultimate goal, all for him to start over. Except as with real life, subtle differences in action despite the utmost effort to keep everything the same in the second run results in different consequences. It is estimated that 75% of all communication is nonverbal, and Re;Zero clearly takes advantage to create a varied take on the repeated timeline (Endless Eight, I'm staring at you). This variation creates anticipation as Subaru seeks to amend his past mistakes. The world is not Subaru's playground and the pain that death inflicts to Subaru serves as a grave deterrent for him use a common video game play style; expend his life to find out every single failure node before homing in for the kill. The respawn, despite seemingly so convenient remains a last choice of action. There is a precedent for this attitude, for the characters in Edge of Tomorrow did their utmost to avoid death as well.

The active senses gives him an incentive to make the very best use of each "life" Subaru is given and puts an importance to attempting it to get it right the first time. Except the higher he aims, the harder he falls, producing great twists and turns in the story. Much of his deaths are caused by Subaru's lack of knowledge in the setting, which links back to an earlier point of the review; this is exactly why the viewer isn't bestowed with knowledge of the setting.

All this brutal deathfest, especially in the mid-season serves as a painful character-development phase where Subaru finally starts reflecting on himself and the way he acts towards others. Subaru remains as cocky as ever, for a complete 180 into a gary stu is surely implausible and for the sake of viewing, totally boring. Subaru simply becomes wiser, and learns how to differentiate self-gain from true affection.

Emilia, the white-haired girl gracing the splash screens of Re;Zero is Subaru's love interest. Her personality most definitely appeals to the "waifu" crowd, being altruistic, gentle, kind with a dose of tsundere. She is highly likeable and a "love at first sight" girl for Subaru, whose feelings develop further with some conversation. Unfortunately, due to the limited timeline of the story covered in the anime, Emilia's characterization is weak although, there is the feeling that much more is to come for hints have been dropped left, right and centre giving the viewer ever more questions.

That said, she shows signs of a character with consistent personality and feelings. That she has a genuinely delicate side, like proper characters with more than one dimension is shown in mid-season with her confrontation with Subaru. It is a worthwhile confrontation which painfully served as Subaru's basis of character growth. Emilia serves as Subaru's objective, and a consistent one at. Allow me to honourably mention that Emilia is highly different from Asuna from Sword Art Online who had a similar role as a "waifu-bait". Her dialogue felt far more abrupt and didn't really contribute to character growth nor comic relief.

Ram and Rem have solid backstories and the latter is especially developed over the course of the story. Rem can be described as the "harem-bait" candidate for Subaru, yet the reason for her affection is detailed enough to bring it above a generic harem flick. Rem is seemingly quiet and mature but is actually highly insecure and is distrustful of people, including Subaru. Subaru selflessly defends Rem against monsters and shows other ways of kindness, which combined with her backstory makes it a life-changing event. While this seems a jarring 180 degree turn in personality, the show carefully shows Rem awkwardly being loyal to Subaru without much dialogue for a couple of episodes until episode 18, which will be described later.

Where Re:Zero fails is balancing time between Rem and Emilia. In the second half of the season, there is a significant gap of approximately 8 episodes where Emilia does not even make an appearance, weakening the bond between the viewer and Emilia, so much that it becomes questionable why Subaru is going after her in the first place. This is actually made even worse by the superb episode 18 which truly blossoms Rem as an intelligent, thinking and emotional character that has made many a viewer scream "Come on Subaru, choose Rem already!". The conversation where Subaru realises his shortcomings and confesses all of them to a highly receptive and empathic Rem is charged with genuine emotion, with visual cues helping to power it forward. Such a moment makes Emilia very forgettable.

The show then conveniently writes off Rem for 5 episodes, making her forgettable. On the flip side, it made Emilia more appealing again which is unfortunately a band-aid fix to the problem.

Another important character where Re:Zero seems to miss the mark is Petelguese, the villain in the final showdown. An eccentric leader of a Witch cult, the portrayal of this eccentricity depicts him as a simple, one-sided madman. Where all the other characters had sophistication, it is jarring that he is simply a one-sided madman. The tragedy is, Peteguese sports some great dark magic abilities which would complement a cunning, dark and edgy madman (read: Caster from Fate/Zero). Perhaps, a step in that direction, with a basic backstory of how he became to worship the Witch was needed.

The other side characters do impress, however with three of the candidates to the throne having levels of sophistication befitting that of true politicians, producing some interesting negotiating dialogue with Subaru.

The White Knights (literally) are promising. Reinhard seems to be a generic nice guy who much like Emilia, is likely to have his time to shine further down the story. Julius on the other hand received much more time, and his initial rivalry and awkward reconciliation (and rightly so!) with Subaru are an invaluable contribution to the story and development.

Wilhelm was given a highly touching backstory that fleshed out his motives before being assigned the role of the "kick-ass" shounen battle swordsman. The ability to produce such a credible side story to a side character leaves much to anticipate the time of the big reveal for Emilia, Puck, Beatrice, Roswaal, Reinhard and Felt.

The other side characters thankfully remained side characters with somewhat interesting battle abilities and for the better. They literally did their job as supporting characters in an excellent, visual way, providing valuable comic relief, as well as being invaluable battle supports.

In the end, Re:Zero may not be legendary quality but it certainly is a great anime where a lot of thought has been put through. That doesn't mean it is a highly sophisticated or philosophical title that changes your life; it most certainly isn't and the show doesn't pretend to be one either. Re:Zero is simply a great entertainment anime without plot holes of significance. The people at White Fox managed to gather the pieces from the Light Novel and put them together to produce a convincing product. The visuals and sounds are there, with excellent facial expressions that communicated emotion and especially suffering. The animation is fluid and there is a level of sophistication in the script, with the "experiential" as opposed to direct introduction of the setting an invaluable touch.

Since this is going up in the review section, I have made my utmost to share my genuine feelings about Re:Zero with minimal bias. I'm very certain this is no fan-piece as I did not receive the Euforia that the Aria and Love Live franchises gave me. Re:Zero certainly has its issues but they are fairly minor, given the huge potential of the setting that has yet to be revealed due the anime being an adaptation of something bigger. Re:Zero is a great spectacle and an amazing journey as you discover its world purely through the lens of the protagonist.

Speaking of which, Aria is also a very fantastic journey through the lens of the protagonist. However, this series should never be watched by a shounen adventure-seeker for the legitimate reason that Aria was never meant to produce that style of entertainment.

For visual novel readers and anime-only watchers alike, the attraction of the Ufotable-Type Moon pair-up is obvious. Nasu's highly intricate and appealing designs brought to life by Ufotable, who are excellent in visuals and art. This partnership works to great extent but was unfortunately lacking in the other important components such as character development, relatability and execution of the story that are needed to create a compelling narrative.

The problems have mostly to do with the conversion from one medium to another. Visual novels thrive on details, through the use of monologue while anime simply thrives on visual gimmicks. In essence, reading ... VNs require a very long attention span, while anime caters to those who want instant visual stimulation. Going straight to the point, anime as a medium is appealing to those with shorter attention spans. Converting a details-heavy story into an anime therefore has its problems and UBW is yet another adaptation which falls into this trap.

It is no surprise that the anime felt hollow, especially in the second season. The anime misses out a lot of highly important dialogue that fleshes out emotions meaning we never got to fully understand the characters. Servants and masters with their own deep thoughts and motives simply became cannonfodder in the anime. What was a carefully crafted setup to a fight simply became "Boom! Explosions! Blood! Dead!". While the anime keeps the very barebones of the story intact, the lack of detail really removes any chance of forming connections with characters. This also reduces the "shock value" when a certain character gets killed off. In the end the anime becomes a "sit down, watch explosions, the end" experience.

Except it even fails on that regard. There are long moments in the middle of battles where the characters simply stand up and recite lines from the VN. Details is good, no? Except that it fails to satisfy neither VN or anime medium fans. The dialogue is too shallow and brief for VN fans while anime-watchers are treated with info-dumps which exceed their attention spans, and their craving for explosions go unsatisfied.

In the end, the amazing story that is UBW can only be told in one medium. The VN medium, as animation as a medium is incapable of telling a deep narrative, nor do their fandom want it. This makes the VN and VN fandom objectively superior to anime and anime fandom. For those distinguished people who want a complete experience, please go read the VN, for it is far deeper than any anime out there which thrives on the gimmicks of explosions, moe and fanservice.

Some say VNs are too hipster, but hipster anime also exist. The Aria the Animation franchise is highly popular and acclaimed by hipsters. However, this should never be watched or supported for it really is only fanservice, with unrealistically proportioned hips and costumes to suit those with a leg fetish. The hipster of anime comes nowhere near close to the hipster of all VNs; Asairo and Subarashiki Hibi. Now, this is a true masterpiece in narrative and execution that no anime comes close to, and will never come close to in the future.

There is a natural human tendency to be complacent and repeat the same formula over and over again. This includes the Precure franchise with the previous Smile Precure being nothing more than a rehashed Yes5, according to reliable sources. The inability to adapt to a changing world has been the cause of failure of governments, corporations and society. Dokidoki has shown that even a well-established franchise is able to change with the times and cater to Generation Z children who have evolving and different needs.

The first and foremost difference is that the Pink cure, Mana takes a far stronger leadership role in ... this series compared to the past. In the run-up to Dokidoki, Japan has faced a leadership crisis, having 6 different Prime Ministers in as many years. Mana is a kind, but domineering character who knows no fear of attempting the impossible. Mana's ultimate dream of becoming a Prime Minister is no coincidence and her character is an inspiration to the children of Japan to take more risks, and get the job done in an otherwise risk-averse society.

Despite Mana's superb level of competancy in many things, one that children should aspire for through diligence and hard work, it is strongly emphasized that she is only human and is imperfect. At one point, Mana loses motivation and a new character, much like the political opposition takes over the leadership role for a while, developing Mana and the cast until Mana is well again. This really draws paralells with the second coming of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who after a weak first stint, has returned with strength, dominance and assertiveness not seen since the Koizumi era.

That said, governments are essentially a team who need excellent leaders and followers. The cast knows when to stand up and lead, and when to provide excellent support to Mana. Even the said opposition is able to accomplish both roles, a life skill that is necessary for everyone.

Dokidoki also takes a concept that is very relevant in life; selfishness. This relatability is a change from fantasy elements such as music, flowers and fairy tales. Almost every episode involves a person having selfish desires. Even the smallest selfish thought can escalate into something big, and Dokidoki shows how such thoughts can be suppressed, a crucial life skill that children need.

Each member of the cast faces their own relatable trials and challenges in life and is given time for growth and development. An excellent example of this is the exploration of the theme of conflicting friendships. Little girls have a tendency to become upset when their best friend decides to get to know a new person. They become lonely and jealous, resulting in petty arguments along the lines of "I'm her best friend, how dare you take her away from me?" Dokidoki recreates this situation and provides a viable resolution.

The theme of separation is also explored like never before in previous Precure seasons, something very relevant to the globalizing world. The Children of today are more likely to part ways and travel to far-flung places in their lives than ever before. The common reaction of sadness and depression is a strong theme and Dokidoki provides meaningful advice to children in the same situation in order to stand up, keep going, finding happy things in life and getting the job done.

Another big theme is brainwashing. In this information age, we have easy access to a wide range of different sources, including less reputable ones. Children are especially vulnerable when it comes to listening to an unreliable source. Dokidoki explores one character who faces such a situation and the amount of love and care that is needed in order to restore and rehabilitate such children who take the wrong path in life.

Last but not least, Dokidoki's plot has so many twists and turns that will put Code Geass to shame, catering perfectly to a generation that has ever-shortening attention spans. The wide range of themes that are covered, and the sudden changes in the predicament of the cures will put anyone at the edge of their seats. The transformation scenes are no-nonsense and different background music is substituted in to convey the mood of the situation, in what must be a first for the franchise and is rarely seen in the Mahou Shoujo genre. The endgame also takes a shocking twist which would leave the audience in awe.

Combined with a character design that is easy on the eyes, consistently high quality artwork, animation and effective use of music, Dokidoki is a series that has succesfully managed to move on and adapt with the times. This is evidenced by a YouTube reaction video of a 5 year old who is fully engaged with the series, and is shocked and awed by the attention-seeking techniques that Toei animation has used in order to keep today's audience glued to their screens.

The antithesis to Dokidoki is the "Aria the Animation" franchise. This series should never be watched as it was made for a previous generation born in the 1990s and is familiar with devices such as the VHS and the floppy disk. These devices are common in the fact that they are slow, and will sedate anyone from the 2000s generation into boredom and sleep.

The SAO: Extra Edition gives the viewer a great chance to re-live the epic storyline of the first season of SAO with the added benefit of seeing it through another perspective. The main characters re-tell the events with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight in a relaxed atmosphere, which serves to further familiarize the viewer with the cast. The flashbacks are well-edited and condensed and this Extra Edition is highly recommended for both newcomers to the franchise and old-timers alike.

The story revolves around Kirito retelling his story to an investigator, giving an insight into his psychological state and thought processes during his time in-game. ... For the rest of his friends, they reminince how they first met Kirito, which further exemplifies the way they behaved at the time. If this does not put the "typical harem, piece of rubbish" detractors to rest, then it is simply inconceivable how these people derive any sort of satisfaction in life. For the Extra Edition grants a more than adequate, in fact a flawless, excellent explanation behind the characters.

After the recap segment, the main cast set off on a quest in ALO where A-1 Pictures diversifies in it's method of narrative. A combination of extensive battle animation and teamwork followed by economical but effective still frames is highly commendable, for MMORPGs are repetitive in nature. This is because a direct "adaptation" of a MMORPG into an anime would be a lot of battle-grinding boredom. Again, the battles are combined with ingenius character reflection which only serves to develop the viewers' bond and linkage with the cast.

Combined with the realistic metal sword effects and the strong, compelling soundtrack by Kajiura Yuki and the previous OP/ED songs being used as inserts, the viewer is not let down in the audio department either. I can only wish that the highly-acclaimed video game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" had battle sounds that was anywhere near as compelling as SAO, but it is hard for anything to match the high bar which this franchise sets.

The only downside is the relatively low resolution and detailing of the art. Having watched shows by SHAFT in recent days, the detailing does not come close at all to SHAFT's standards. Although this may be because A-1 Pictures decided to actually animate, unlike SHAFT's excessive usage of budget-stretching still frames.

Overall the Extra Edition combines a great cast with compelling characterization. Despite much of it being a recap, the story has a completely fresh perspective which has much to add. Sword Art Online: Extra Edition is definitely not to be missed.

P.s. I am surprised by the striking coincidence involving the naming of Sakuya the Undine and Alicia the Cait Sith in this franchise. For these terminologies remind me of a moe-pandering so-called "slice of life" anime which is called Aria that uses words of the same name. This is a series which must be never watched, for it features deadpan, one-line catchphrasing characters in stark contrast with the compelling characterization of SAO: Extra Edition. Any attempt at "plot" is simply horribly contrived and the enlightened MAL community of connoisseurs must make every effort to avoid such monstrosity.

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Sword Art Online is a pioneer of its genre in that, the source material dates from all the way back in 2002 (.hack// being of the same vintage). This is important to note as with all pioneering feats, there is an initial sense of wonder and hype, followed by disappointment as the same concept is refined and improved upon. To give an example, the Victorians pioneered the underground railway in London, a marvel at its time but it was soon realised that they dug the tunnels too small. The tiny, overcrowded trains of today cannot be appreciated for ... its breakthrough in technology. SAO, due to its nature therefore shows the same seemingly obvious flaws that only become apparent in hindsight.

With that said, SAO is a fantastic piece of work considering how the author was only a high school student at the time, and how he ventured into previously unexplored territory. The author and the subsequent adaptation by A1 pictures successfully manages to impress the intended audience; the teenage market. This is done through a careful blend of adventure, cliffhangers , pacing, deux es machinas and a good cast of girls.

The show starts off with a highly interesting premise with players in a perfectly modelled virtual reality. Since their consciousness is surrendered to the NervGear hardware, the only way to return to the real world is through the “Log Out” button which has unfortunately gone walkies. We follow the life events of our protagonist, Kirito as he battles his way through his ups and downs, which is not limited to fighting.

Kirito also faces a daunting challenge emotionally, as the stakes are exceptionally high. A death in-game equates to death in real life. These obstacles flesh out the human nature of Kirito’s character in great detail. His behaviour, emotions and actions are closely related to his recent happenings and experiences. Kirito starts off as a social recluse who prefers to limit his interactions with other people. This leads him to shun the cooperative nature of MMORPGs and plays solo. Through a chance encounter, Kirito manages to befriend a group and re-learn the significance of friendship and comradeship, and how that improves his mental well-being. This does not lead to the unrealistic result of Kirito becoming instantly socially adept, as he faces further obstacles and setbacks that push him back to his reclusive old self. Such flaws truly show that Kirito is simply a mere mortal with variable emotions and feelings, which serves to connect with the viewer with empathy. For Kirito is only the strongest player in SAO due to his effort and research, rather than simply being perfect. Only through real experience can Kirito grow as a person, and the growth is closely tied in with the story.

A1 Pictures is to be commended for only highlighting the most significant parts of Kirito’s story as he fights to clear the game. Thousands of hours of level-grinding which was normal in the Everquest era of 2002 (when SAO was written) has given way to achievement caps relating to the hours you play in a day in 2012 (when SAO was adapted). To put it in simpler terms, the firms that make MMORPGs implementing such caps means the community has democratically voted with their wallets that level grinding is far too troublesome and boring.

We are therefore treated to relevant side stories instead of level-grinding filler. Each of these side stories involves an encounter with a supporting cast with wide variations in personalities and nature of the quest. Through the use of variety in the story, not only do we get to see Kirito develop, but also the world. The viewer is introduced to the world of MMORPGs involving Guilds, Raids, Smithing, Conspiracy and even a compelling virtual romance that becomes the foundation of a timely rejuvenation of Kirito’s character. Relationships however, are a two-way street and Asuna’s (the main heroine and Kirito’s girlfriend) worldview is also seamlessly influenced, and improved. The two-way nature of the relationship really makes it convincing, and leaves a lasting impression. The end product is an Asuna, despite her obvious flaws as a human, becomes a character whom many would look up to, due to her dedicated and faithful nature that was born out of hardship.

All of the above really shows that the writers performed an exceptional job. The accurate portrayal of the fickle nature of human emotions, and especially during the tumultuous years of adolescence really brings the show to life. The level of language, and the tones used by the voice actors were highly appropriate. They successfully avoid Kirito sounding like an aged professor with a PhD in SAO, and a realistic mix of rational decision making and emotionally-charged angst is used.

The quality of writing continues with the way the villains are portrayed. The first major villain, Kayaba is an accurate rendition of the genius, lost in his own world, which he seeked to control. He is the prime example of a person termed as a sociopath. The best aspect of him however is not his character itself, but the way he integrated himself into the storyline, and produced the most unexpected plot twist. This twist is a very crafty, and convincing one due to it being totally out of the blue yet in hindsight, perfectly plausible.

The second villain, Sugou on the other hand, is the purest example of a villain in recent times. Villains are meant to be bad, but not all can be successful at being bad and unique at the same time. A recent, highly successful example to compare is Raoul Silva, the highly-acclaimed villain in James Bond’s Skyfall. Not only was Silva bad, he was amusingly bad and obviously received pleasure from just being plain ‘badass’. In SAO, Sugou betters Silva by not only bringing amusement, but also the purest feeling of disgust against the character. In essence, Sugou is the victim of his own success, and the show goes to great extent by detailing his personality and motives. The icing on the cake is when Sugou subjects Asuna to the unthinkable, further solidifying the author and A1’s innovative risk-taking with the series.

Although show is somewhat lacking in all-out battle action which comes across as strange, due to its highly suggestive title; the art of swordcraft, the worry is misplaced. The rarity of such scenes only serves to enhance the excitement during the boss battles. The immersion is further exemplified by the convincing use of light effects during animated scenes. This highly appropriate use of animation technique serves to amplify the effect of each, and every single hacking and slicing motion. Instead of Diablo-style hack and slice spamming, we are treated with the significance of each motion. A1 Pictures have clearly taken on board the mantra of quality over quantity.

Unfortunately, following the mantra means the show tried to cover too much, in too little time. An attempt at too much quality in too little time. SAO attempts to provide a realistic and varied portrayal of the world of MMOGs. They have unfortunately made the pioneer’s mistake of being far too ambitious. Some characters are casted a little too far to the side and that includes those that greatly influenced Kirito’s development being one-episode wonders. This is especially evident in the ‘Aria’ sub-arc where A1 Pictures attempted to cover too much ground in a single episode when Asuna was introduced. Nevertheless, while this may seem detrimental, the flip side is of course, the less intrusive nature of the side cast. This approach avoids the trap of character bloat which other series have fallen into. Despite the blunder with ‘Aria’, Asuna gets the focus she needs later in the series.

The excellent writing and animation is greatly amplified by the renowned composer, Kajiura Yuki who worked on the music. The style of the music resembles her most recent previous work (Fate/Zero), but is sufficiently different to set it apart, reminiscent of the time she worked on Mai-HiME and Tsubasa Chronicles back-to-back. She forgoes her usual techno, and instead utilizes a greater reliance on classic instruments and the orchestra. A highly appropriate decision as the art of swordsmanship and the resulting swordfights are traditional in nature. Despite classical instruments being rather ‘soft’ in comparison with electronic music, Kajiura delivered beautifully with the softer style actually multiplying the effectiveness of the battle scenes. Her mix of opera in the battle tracks only serves to give a sense of ‘epic’, seen in the likes of “The Lord of the Rings”.

It is important at this point to mention that SAO actually has two, highly distinct arcs. The second arc is not a death game, but a race against time. It also gives a much-needed change in pace from the seriousness that hung over the first arc. Unfortunately, the benefits of a slightly light-hearted arc is also its downfall. The sense of urgency from the race against time was not portrayed in the best manner, with Kirito taking seemingly pointless detours, which in actuality was in fact, perfectly reasonable. A1 Pictures disappointed in this regard, disconnecting the viewer with the character’s decision-making. Nevertheless, the detours sets the foundations of Kirito developing in the real world, and explores his relationship with people that are the closest to him. Aside from the minor drawback, the quality of writing is still very good (but not excellent) and the quality of animation and music is maintained.

All in all, the excellence of the individual components (e.g. sound, animation) come together at the end to give the viewer an anime that is pleasant to see, awe-inspiring to hear, and minds in intrigue with the story. A1 Pictures has successfully created an adaptation that entertains a wide variety of audiences. SAO is a must watch for fans of adventure, fantasy, romance and even harem. Even the detractors derived a whole new level of entertainment, expressed in forms not limited to reaction videos on YouTube. The product’s success is clearly seen through pure, objective evidence by means of Blu-Ray sales as viewers have overwhelmingly embraced SAO.

Overall, SAO gets an excellent 9/10. A truly enjoyable series that crosses an extremely wide range of anime fanbases which is no mean feat. It is probably fair to deduct a single point in light of the slight weakness in ‘Aria’ and in the second arc but not any more than that due to the amount of ground that required covering in order to complete Kirito’s development.

Now that I’ve mentioned ‘Aria’, there is another anime of the same name. This series must never be watched, for it involves girls simply rowing boats for 3 whole seasons. Worst of all, a ‘moeblob’ (in other words, ‘moe[brown stuff]’) loli character is introduced, being evidenced by her having an S-tier Zettai Ryouiki. The wise community must avoid such monstrosity going after easy cash and stick to shows of a deep and profound nature, such as SAO.

TL;DR version: A compelling and highly innovative series in terms of strategy and characterisation but struggles to make its genre identity known. Unexpected genre changes from space combat, to comedy/slice-of-life is seen which is rather unpalatable in the first half. This is rectified in the second half where everything starts falling into place, and a good, clear balance is found. The series is more for those who like deeper thinking and strategy, instead of the average shounen battles.

The story is deep and intriguing, with a wide variety of piracy missions requiring different skills and tactics. What is emphasised greatly is that ... preparation is key before engaging in any kind of mission or battle. The show, for the most part keeps the viewer informed how and why a ship's crew has taken a certain course of action.

Unfortunately, the preparation aspect is over-emphasised in the first 4 episodes which really broke the pacing and turned off a lot of potential viewers. The show does redeem itself in the 5th episode when all the preparations go into action. The highly tactical nature is gripping, and is upheld throughout the rest of the series during engagement with enemies.

The end of the first episode was also awkward, as we are abruptly introduced to the political nature and hazards of being involved with piracy, without any follow-up. The best way to describe it is a shoddy attempt to include action and suspense which was counter-productive in the bigger picture. The later episodes do give us a quick rundown, and the viewer is also able to naturally gain a good idea of the setting as events unfold, which makes the awkward first episode sequence necessary.

The structuring of the arcs also took some time to get used to, as the "Mission"-centric episodes bore the hallmarks of a Space Opera while the "In-between" episodes between the Missions were closer to slice-of-life and comedy. The change of pace is totally unexpected and rather confusing at first. The "in-between" episodes show improvement as the series progresses, and successfully provide a good relief from the serious parts.

What the series excels at is how it handles the characters. We have a large cast, but only the important ones get the focus. The viewer develops understanding of the characters through the way they act, rather than empathy that is seen in most other series. This feels rather impersonal as the viewer is unable to directly connect to anyone, and is left as the third person observer. The total opposite happens in Code Geass where we are always with the main lead, going through his thoughts and the fairly minor characters also have their day in the spotlight. Not so in pirates, as we appreciate the excellent supporting cast through observing what they do, and how they do it. The story gradually reveals the characters, rather than the characters revealing themselves.

Remarkably, this is handled in an excellent fashion as we see a very natural progression and development from our main heroine, Marika. Her piracy skills and confidence show a natural growth from experience and the subtle changes over time is just pleasing to see. At the same time, she is no superhuman and has her insecurities. A reluctant leader who becomes a beast of a leader when the switch goes in. The writer of this review has the same experience, being in a zombie-like state outside work, but task-orientated and focused while at it.

The BGM is very good, and supports the different moods, from mission planning sequences to high-stakes battle action. There is a noticeable lack of variety at times, and repetition through the episodes can get a little tiresome. It is a case of quality over quantity, although a little more of the latter would be welcome! The insert songs and a special ending theme sets a good feel-good and concluding mood, while the regular ED sets a tone of anticipation with the lyrics giving an excellent portrayal of Marika. The OP is a matter of taste, which in itself is an excellent example of Bodaciousness and pirates by their nature are just that.

General sounds are also great, and really reinforce aspects of the story. The various pirate ships are a century old, and have undergone custom modifications throughout the years. While the external designs have similar roots, the differences in customisation is apparent. Such is the attention to detail in that each ship has its own unique warning siren.

The general character art and animation is very average for a televised series. Character detailing is usually good, but there is some inconsistency across different episodes. The animation is decent to good most of the time, but there are the rare exceptions where framelag is highly noticeable. The CGI on the other hand is outstanding. The detailed designs of the pirate ships, and the large amounts of different shading that is used is exceptional. The movement is extremely fluid, with extremely accurate thruster deployment as a ship changes direction. Zero-G environments and physics are excellently represented in both "ordinary" and "CGI" sequences (technically, it's ALL CGI but you get the gist) with floating characters having to kick objects to change direction, as well as going "upside down"

At the end of the day, Mouretsu Pirates is a highly compelling show that dared to do things differently. Tactics instead of pure action. Third-person character development instead of through first-person empathy. It even throws in comic relief in this highly complex execution. Even the producers seemed to struggle, as seen in the first few episodes but they learnt from their mistakes and each successive arc improves upon the previous ones. While the end results were far from perfect, they gradually become close enough. This is certainly a show which a patient viewer with an interest in space would enjoy.

This review considers the anime adaptation of Fate Zero (F/Z) Season 2 entirely on its own merit.

TL;DR version: The hotly-anticipated second half of F/Z is disappointing in the sense that it leaves the viewer with more questions than answers with a rushed ending. It is especially frustrating when the first half took meticulous care in covering all the nooks and crannies of the Fate universe. On the plus side, the visuals are excellent and the choreography of some of the action and battles is outstanding.

Which brings us to to the critical flaw, the *execution* of the story. The carefully crafted build-up in ... the first season starts falling apart, as the series switches its focus to action and bodycount. This change of focus and direction just fails to engage the kind of viewer who wants to know the "why" it happened, on top of the "what".

"But they were simply constricted by the number of slots they had on TV."

Those with bright minds will around it properly. Producers need to know which aspects of the story to prioritize. Steins;Gate for example picked and chose material carefully from the Visual Novel and the result was excellent. The flow and pacing was consistent, despite the amount of material that was not included. This was not the case for F/Z season 2 where the producers made two big errors in pacing.

The first error goes back to season 1. I really enjoyed the loli-Rin episode and it was fitting, due to Rin being such an important character in the Fate universe.

"But they needed a cliffhanger for the start of season 2, which is why they used lol-Rin as a filler."

Ending an arc at the final episode of a sub-season and having a clean-slate start for season 2 is also just fine, especially if it improves the overall product.

The second error is the producers' sadistic minds going for big, family kills on Mother and Father's Day respectively, thus affecting the pacing of the story. This is especially so in the middle of the season where 2 episodes are devoted to a flashback. The pacing of the flashback was extremely slow and given the amount of content that needed covering at the end it is questionable whether 2 whole episodes were needed.

These decisions therefore cost around one and a half episodes, a valuable amount of time which needed to be saved to wrap up the series. Instead, we get an ending which happened, "because it happened". In hindsight, the loli-Rin episode would make a perfect bonus episode in a Blu-Ray set.

Combined with the pacing issues, the quality of dialogue takes a dive as depth and characterization is replaced by shallow, shounen-esque lines. This is disastrous because F/Z started off as a "badass" anime with depth and sophistication. During the latter part of season 2, the show becomes badass, for the sake of being badass. This really affects the characters because instead of developing them and forging a connection with the viewer, they merely become tools of destruction. The connections that were forged in season 1 gradually fade as our characters just drop like dead flies, in a large bodycount, with rushed death epilogues that gives the question "Was that it, after everything?"

To top it all off, what was mind-boggling was Sakura's last line in the series. It shows a totally different character to the Sakura we knew prior, and what we know from F/Stay Night. Instead of going for consistency, the producers had gone for the tragic route for the sake of it.

This discrepancy across the seasons confuses how F/Z wants to be identified. A sophisticated series (Death Note's first arc) combined with some slick action in the first season, or simply a show to showcase "baddass" (Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon).

The art and CGI were very good throughout, with the right amount of detailing on the characters. I also failed to notice any deformities, inconsistencies and incorrect placing of facial features throughout the season. The animation was also fluid, with rendered CGI being used the bulk of the battles to good effect. Everything that meets the eye of the viewer was done extremely beautifully. This was backed by good, convincing sounds effects of metal clanging against metal during battle.

The music is an odd one due to Kajiura Yuki abandoning her usual, dominant style for BGM and making it a passive one for F/Z. There was no techno and dramatic opera. Instead, a classical style was used which identified itself with the ancient times of the servants, and the use of ancient mythological magic. The opposite would be the more "techy" weaponry used by present-day people in Mai-Hime, with Kajiura Yuki using her trademark style there. Unfortunately, the passive style means the plot and depth of the story needs to be strong in order for the viewer to be engaged - which as discussed earlier was not to be. This links directly to the overall enjoyment of the series, which took a dive as a result. The final nail in the coffin for enjoyment was the awkwardly paced finale. The placement of actual content felt "off", especially when we were abruptly fed with the idealized wishes of some of the characters. The dialogue which was meant to provide closure was also unsatisfying, with "explanations" actually being descriptive, rather than being explanations.

F/Z has been a series that has been extremely interesting from the outset. The extremely high production values is an instant draw, with extremely well animated OP/EDs that set and fit the mood and content of the story perfectly. People who loved the first season's depth and pacing will unfortunately be disappointed. The "less talk, more action" crowd will surely love the excitement suspense from *most* of the battles that were extremely well choreographed. Unfortunately, the flip-flopping of F/Z's genre identity mean both crowds will unlikely be completely satisfied.

TL;DR version: Not worth watching unless you get enjoyment from girls battling with some good weaponry and/or a huge fan of Nana Mizuki's music.

Symphogear gives us the premise of an alien race that is causing havoc. The only counter to these strange creatures is the Symphogear weapon system which the female protagonists equip themselves for battle. While this formula for a battle anime has been done a countless number of times, what really matters is "how" it is done, rather than the "what". Unfortunately, Symphogear clearly lacks the direction and the refinement seen in other series such as Madoka.

Firstly, there is the ... matter of the story which is fairly average on the whole, but is destroyed by a major plot hole and the lack of refinement in the direction. We are greeted with a significant death in the first episode, which we fully know about from the summary of this anime. This death is caused by Kanade using "Zesshou", the final attack available that uses up all of one's life energy. Unfortunately, this significance is cheapened in later episodes. Therefore, Kanade's death becomes a rather forced plot device to get the ball rolling, rather than a necessary and significant event.

Then there's the clear lack of refinement in the direction, as there are occasions where we get bombarded with the most terrible ENGRISH. I mean absolutely horrific. While the context of including the English was justified (Japanese dealing with Americans), the catastrophic lack of care in its execution just goes to show a lot. Surely, Microsoft Word would have come up with a whole load of green wriggly lines in the planning phase of the script.

Then we move onto the art. Symphogear's characters have a fairly retro look with the use of strong colour shading for the hair, unlike the lighter colour tones that is more prevalent today. While this is not bad in itself, there are issues with the use of shading, which gives an incorrect perception of a lack of detail. Mouretsu Pirates, whose character art is far from groundbreaking uses a very simple, but effective style that shows the detailing in the character's hair. While I am not expecting something crazy on the level of Key/KyoAni collaborations, Symphogear's shading deficiency was clearly evident in the first episode where production values was at their highest. The fluid animation, combined with the excellent camera angles and background art looked a little odd when it was just hard to notice the character detailing. Then we have the main character whom we of course spend a long time staring at her. Her eyes seemed just too narrow and horizontally challenged. This just makes it a little hard to stare at the screen, because the level of distortion was beyond tolerances that is usually seen.

To make it all up though, the background scenery was extremely well done with plenty of detailing and shading. The weapon and attack design and choreography was excellent and fun to watch. The stills, showing the main attacks of the character was a nice touch, using differing art styles that represented the character in question.

Characterisation. We love seeing great characters. Now, a significant number of teenagers tend to have mood swings and can be unstable due to the sudden rush of hormones during puberty. Symphogear's representations of teenagers in distress seemed highly plausible. The way they interacted and reacted were extremely appropriate and on the whole, done fairly well. While Mary Sues on the one hand are boring, there is also unfortunately the case of annoying naivety which we see with the main character. This naivety causes grief for the sake of it. Her thoughts seems to mature though, and her sense of empathy is highly improved after receiving appropriate information.

(Personal Opinion: While I don't mind seeing naive supporting characters giving the slightly more mature main character annoyance, I cannot stand it being the other way around. Simply because the main character gets most of the screen time. Having to live with it is just painful.)

The villain's characterisation unfortunately left much more to be desired. The behaviour, course of action, and reaction felt highly amateurish, considering the number of years' life experience the villain has had. Even the highly egotistical and corrupted Gilgamesh from the Fate universe knew when to do Ego and when to do serious battle. Gender not revealed to prevent spoiling.

The sounds are the strongest point of Symphogear. This is especially exaggerated in my case as I click extremely well with Nana Mizuki's music. The way the music was composed suited Nana's singing style perfectly and was built around the character exceptionally well. (I seriously believe Symphogear was made solely to make some cash out of Nana's talent). The ending result was Macross F on steroids with highly enjoyable battles. Not only that, but Yukine's "badass rock" also suited her character and attack mode extremely well. Battle sounds were generically good, and nothing seemed amiss. Unfortunately, the main character's music, battles and singing was just weak. It is rather loli-ish, something which really has its place in Lucky Star, rather than a battle.

At the end of the day, Symphogear was built on a highly average premise. While they did a good job with the music and weapon design, the aforementioned plot inconsistency and unpalatable main character destroys much of the viewing experience.

For those who click with Nana's music, her outstanding performance is more than capable of temporarily taking the viewer's attention away from the glaring flaws. However, for those of other taste, the sound and enjoyment score would surely be lower and therefore, Symphogear is essentially 3 or 4/10 material. Which goes back to the TL;DR version of the review - if you don't like Nana's music, don't bother with Symphogear.

The Sacred Blacksmith is a really mixed bag. This could have been good, with the underlying story being highly interesting. The whole excecution of the story is unfortunately, horrific.

The flaws in the storyline mainly lie with the protagonist. Cecily as the main lead has shown growth but this is unfortunately obscured by her annoying personality. The way her "talk" sequences were done was extremely off-putting, and her jarring voice made things even worse. This links to the lack of a logical flow to the storyline whenever it involves Cecily. One evening, she's in a life-threatening battle, the next day ... she's smiling at her potential killers (twice...same people, same arc!). Another example is excessive, irrelevant chatter during battles. It's as if her speaking has a "freeze" effect on the enemy (yea right!).

The supporting main characters, Luke, Lisa and Aria were highly pleasurable and fun, each having rather interesting backstories as well as a good source of laughter. They fulfill their respective roles excellently.

The art was average-good, with the use of an eye-pleasing palette. Afterall, I started watching after seeing the nice art at the Animesuki season preview. The girls were either cute or hot, depending on age! The monsters looked ugly but aren't monsters supposed to be ugly anyway? The animation sequences during battles were very well done. It's a shame the battles had to be rushed in a short, 12-episode series.

The BGM is very good and it is a pity because of the lacklustre storytelling. This situation is reminicent of Tsubasa Chronicles season 1 where the music was awesome, but too lively for a poorly executed and slow story. The OP seems to have split people but I felt the beat and tone was a good fit. The ED is just awfully cute, and expresses Lisa as a character very well.

Overall, I enjoyed the story because it had such potential, as well as the interesting and likeable supporting characters which kept me watching this rather mediocre series. That said, the lack of logical flow *points at Cecily* is a serious killjoy. People have asked me what I was watching during Autumn 2009. While I gave an honest answer (SnB was the only show I was following!), I have told every one of them to avoid.

A fairly enjoyable series which has either been watered down too much, or not enough.


Overall - 6/10

From the Animesuki thread, I read that the manga is more hardcore with blood and depth in comparison with the anime. While I have not read the source material, I can already sense in the anime that things have been watered down to an extent. This has all to do with the series airing at 10am on a Sunday. I feel things are still too hardcore (i.e. targeted at Japanese Otakus) with the constant perv/service/loli references, to be suitable for kids.

On the other hand, the general ... over-action of the BABEL boss, and the limiter de-activation scenes have certainly been created to make kids laugh and enjoy. While I thankfully do not know the tastes of a hardcore Japanese Otaku, I found my attention span dropping in the scenes that are meant for kids.

So where exactly does this series want itself to be placed?


Story - 7/10

The story follows the daily lives and missions of 3 children who are exposed to events that usually, only grown-ups can comprehend mentally. Thus the events, missions, conversations and the experiences that the Children face are crucial in influencing the way that these children grow as characters. It is known in the story that these Children have an almost equal chance of becoming "good" or "evil" when they grow up and I liked the latter episodes where the events may greatly influence their mindset.

The style is standalone episodes with quick action and conclusions, but they follow a logical and linear timeline and the way they made it so episodic, yet so continueous in a smooth manner is commendable. However, the time constraints per episode may have compromised depth.

The scene is where a government organisation called B.A.B.E.L is responsible for policing and looking after espers, with their objective to show the world that both espers and non-espers can peacefully co-exist. B.A.B.E.L. faces against both extremes, organisations that are determined to create a world ONLY for espers, and those who want a world without espers. This creates a Gundam SEED-esque mess which I like because both sides have very "human" reasons for their opinions and objectives. Such a setup also creates potential for depth and involvement. All in all, the story has a very solid foundation.

The series ends nicely, but with lots of loose ends that were left untied. It seems to be implied that a sequel is possible, which would justify the loose ends.


Art - 5/10

Being a 52 episode season, one couldn't expect spectacular art due to budget constraints and indeed, the art and animation are nothing spectacular. I found the art and animation to be of fairly average standard where nothing really stood out. Animation had jerky moments but it was far from "framelaggy" as in the case of You're Under Arrest - Full Throttle. The art does its job and is fairly consistent. To sum it up, it was good enough.


Sound - 6/10

The music and sounds are fairly repetitive and what can one expect from (supposedly) a kid's show? I found the BGM to be fairly convincing and I definately liked the music where the limiter was deactivated. However, not much else really caught my attention aside from...

...Over The Future, the first OP. The voices sound a little weird because it had been transposed up a minor third for the TV series - the full song has a lower pitch. This song definately caught the spirit of the series and I really love the feel-good feeling. I do question the use of *real* kids to sing this. While it gives them opportunity to shine into stardom (and what a solid performance in the MV), this show screams "Japanese Lolicon" at times and I feel there's a moral issue. The seiyuu's could actually sing this to an acceptable standard as heard on Youtube.

I found the voicing of the characters to be very good, with excellent performances from cast of The Children - Hirano Aya, Shiraishi Ryoko and Tomatsu Haruka, all who have provided great performances in the past.


Character - 6/10

After the initial 10 episodes or so, when The Children are tamed down enough to be sent to school, I feel there was limited character development, save for Kaoru being subtly manipulated. I felt that the episodes in the runup to the finale would have a real impact in defining Kaoru's future (and turning evil or not), which I throughly enjoyed.

We however get to know the backstories of the major characters which were definately interesting and links in well with their current behaviour.

If there is a second season, then I would feel that the limited development is justified, as Zettai Karen Children by its nature is a dragged out series.


Enjoyment - 7/10

I actually enjoyed this. The dumb things and the abuse of power that The Children can get up to is just entertaining, including whacking people into walls, when there was a lesser option that is just as effective. Watching the antics of moderately bad kids is definately funny. Of course, I also got a lot of enjoyment from the story.

However, I didn't really feel as involved (glued to the screen) as I could have done.