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Ah Rosario+Vampire, my first encounter with this series a sour one manly because I watched both seasons of the Anime version first. I was not really impressed since it was just your stereotypical harem Anime that it actually made me facepalm more than once. Afterwords I was interested to see if the source material was any better (i.e. the Manga) and I got to say this is what the Anime "SHOULD" of been. The story was good, the fights were well done and even characters are better portrayed here. So with out further a due, here's my review.


The Story:

The story ... begins with a regular ordinarily human boy named Tsukune Aono who accidentally attends to Youkai Academy, a private school for monsters. There he must keep his true identity a secret in order survive because if anyone finds out that he is in deed human, he'll be kill on the spot. Lucky for him he makes some new friends (who happen to be beautiful girls who all fall for him) that fight along side him and one of his new friends, Moka Akashiya, so happens to be the legendary monster, a Vampire. The whole setting for this story was really well made in my opinion and in fact had some really good monster facts that I didn't even know about. The relationships that Tsukune has with his friends is relatively strong, especially with Moka. Also each challenge that they faced was pretty tough but they manage find a way and pull through. If I had to give any flaws it would be that the first few chapters can take a while to get up to speed, some of the fights can end abruptly and Tsukune and Moka can misunderstand each other a lot under certain circumstances but the story has a whole is good so I can't complain.


The Art:

In the first few chapters of this series, I found the art to be good but nothing to spectacular. As I read more chapters though the art got better and better, especially with the characters and battle scenes. For instance the characters faces early on were nicely drawn but in later chapters each character had much more emotion in there faces and can tell what they are going throw, it was nice to see. Although the battle scenes I think were the most unique. They had such good angles and foreshortening on characters arms and legs that it was really nice to look at. I really give props to the Mangaka on that.


The Characters:

Here I would like to talk about each of the Main Characters of this series one at a time (this part may take a while, sorry)....

Tsukune Aono: At first he doesn't do much in beginning except shield his friends so he can protect them and removes Moka's rosary to awaken her Vampire powers. However by chapter 10 he really starts to man up and eventually because a bad-ass with powers of his own. I really grew to like his character throw out the series and additionally he really likes Moka and tries to spend every moment with her.

Moka Akashiya: Now there are two sides of Moka in Rosario+Vampire. The pink haired Moka is the one who first meets Tsukune and is very nice, smart and the considered to be the most beautiful girl at Youkai Academy. She quickly befriends Tsukune and tells him that she is a Vampire, however her Vampire powers are sealed away due to the rosary that she wears around her neck. She can't take it off herself but it turns out that Tsukune is the only one who can and when it does come off, the pink haired Moka transforms into her true Vampire form complete with red eyes and silver hair. The silver haired Moka can kick your ass very quickly and tends to be more violent. I liked both Moka's, pink haired Moka shows that not only does so truly care for Tsukune but her friends as well and silver haired Moka is such a bad-ass.

Kurumu Kurono: She's might be the most energetic of the group and is also a Succubus. She was OK when she was first introduced but soon I grew to like her too when she started to trust her friendship with Tsukune, Moka and the others and she can hold her own in a fight when needed. She really likes Tsukune and often tries the most to win over his affections throwout the series.

Yukari Sendou: The youngest of the group since she is a genius student who skip a few grades. She is also a Witch who can use magical attacks such as tarot cards and most common a washtub that she uses to drop on peoples heads (mostly for comic relief). Not only does she really like Tsukune but also really likes Moka too and claims she wants to be with both of them. She may be my least favorite in the series but she is likeable and plus she's really funny when she picks fights with Kurumu.

Ruby Toujo: Another Witch who at first was a enemy that hated all humans but thanks to Tsukune and company, she becomes their ally and friend. I don't have much to say about her without giving away that might spoil anything except that she does see Yukari as a very good Witch friend and she to really likes Tsukune. And unlike Yukari, I liked her a lot and found her to be a better Witch.

Mizore Shirayuki: Without a doubt, my favorite character in the Manga. She is a Yuki-onna (Snow Women) who can freeze water into ice and can use ice and snow as a weapon. She can also create ice clones of herself and others. She always seen with a lollipop and like every other main girl, she really likes Tsukune. So much so that she stalks Tsukune everywhere he goes from behind trees, bushes, etc. She often freezes any of the other girls who tend to get to close to him. Plus she seems to be the only one who can tell how Tsukune is feeling and would do anything for him see him happy, even if its not what she really wants in the end. Clearly that is enough to make her my favorite character.

Now there are some supporting characters that were good but the only one I'll mention here is the Bus Driver on account that he was very mysterious and really cool.


Enjoyment:

It took a couple of chapters for me to really start enjoying this Manga but I feel it succeed during chapter 10. There were moments that I found it to be funny at times. The main characters were likable throw out the series and I enjoyed how they overcome many obstacles. Plus the art was very nice to look at from time to time.


Overall:

I may not like the Anime but the Rosario+Vampire Manga is a very good read. It may start off kind of slow but give it time and it will reward you with a good story, good battle scenes and likeable characters. So if you enjoy your Mangas with Monsters, Werewolf's, Witches, Lizard Creatures and of course Vampires, than give this one a shot. It may be right up your alley.



Final Score Card:

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

So where do I begin with this review. I'll start off by saying this Anime was very hyped up for the Fall 2011 season before it ever aired. It had studio Production I.G working on the animation, Tetsurou Araki was the shows director (best known for directing Death Note), the character designs were done by Redjuice and the music was being composed by supercell. Heck, it was ever licensed here in the U.S. with all of its high expectations. Well after finishing up this series, does it live up to the hype and then sum? The answer is, Meh. ... The reason why I say meh is that even with such a solid production staff, its the plot and writing that ultimately gives the shows downfall and its disappointing too that I couldn't live up to hype.



The Story:

The story of Guilty Crown at first was understandable. A group of rebels trying to over throw the corrupt government by stealing a top secret weapon that gives its user a great power so that they can use it to free Japan. You know this sounds an awful alike another Anime I know called Code Geass. Well even if Guilty Crown's story isn't as "Original" as they said, I was willing to look passed that because I was interested to were they going to go with it.
The first episode really set to tone with the whole Void power and I was actually excited up until episode 4, after that it started to go down the path of no return. By that point, the story was starting to become one big mess of cliches and lackluster writing. It was like the writing staff could not make up their minds on how the story should unfold. Plus it seemed like they just made stuff up along the way with how to use a Void and some of the back-story for characters, not to the virus that was threatening mankind. Make up your damn minds already!!! Just pick one and stick to it. This is easily my biggest complaint about this series, but how does everything else hold up. Pretty good actually.


The Art:

Production I.G's animation and Redjuice's designs were differently one of the highlights of this Anime. The action scenes were well done and the animation was pretty fluid and had a cinematic quality to it. So in all honesty, this was simple eye-candy and there's nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed the art quite well and there really isn't much more I can say.


The Sound:

Another highlight for Guilty Crown was the soundtrack. supercells music was just the right fit for this show and plus the OP and ED themes were also done well with EGOIST performing them. The song "The Everlasting Guilty Crown" was one of my favorite things about Guilty Crown. I'll even go as far to mention that the voice-acting was top notch but hey that's what you get when you have great seiyuu's like Nakamura Yuuichi and Hanazawa Kana working on this.


The Characters:

The characters of Guilty Crown are pretty much divided into two categories: ether you'll like some of them or you'll hate some of them. One of the shows main protagonists, Shu, falls somewhere in-between for me. I never really hated the guy but I feel his character could of grown to be something better rather than him suffer from the "Shinji Ikari Complex" of feeling sorry for yourself. He does mature in the second half, little by little though.
The other two protagonists, Inori and Gai, are pretty much a mixed bag as well. Inori was just another cliche of a silent girl with no emotions in the begin and Gai being the all knowing leader who has a connection with Shu in the past. There isn't much more I can say about these two without spoiling anything.

The other characters of Guilty Crown were not all that great or even that interesting with the exception of Ayase, Tsugumi and maybe even Hare. Hare was pretty likable but it was Ayase and Tsugumi who stole the show. Honestly, to me they were the best characters in the whole series and why couldn't the story be about them or have Ayase be the main female lead. She would have been much better than Inori.


Enjoyment:

Now even with all of Guilty Crown's story problems, I did enjoy this Anime at times. Like I said the first episode had a great start until it fell flat on its face around episode 5 and so on, but I still enjoyed the Art and OST. Not to mention Ayase and Tsugumi and even all of the different Voids. It was cool to see what kind of Void each person had and it did. I would of enjoy this series a lot more if writers had a much solid story to tell.


Overall:

So in the end, Guilty Crown measured up to being average series that was to hyped up. Its really a shame because I did wanted this to succeeded in the long run but the mess-mash of the plot held it back from being something much more then it did. With all that said, would I ever watch this again? Probably not but I am glad that I at least gave it a shot. So if your interesting in watching this, watch at least couple episodes and see if this Anime is right for you. Hopefully we'll get to see Redjuice's designs and supercell's music return in another Anime in the future.



Final Score Card:

Story: 3/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Characters: 6/10
Enjoyment: 7/10

Overall: 6/10

I have a lot I want to say about Daisuke Moriyama's Manga Chrono Crusade. One of which is that it is one of the BEST Mangas I've read to date. I'll also go as far to say that its much better than its Anime counter part.

I'm getting ahead of myself here so I go back to how I was first introduced to Chrono Crusade. A good friend of mine told me about this series and said it was one of his favorites, so I was interest but I watched the Anime first. The Anime for Chrono Crusade was pretty ... good in its own right but after I got a hold of the Manga and read it, the Anime doesn't come close to being as good as Moriyama's Original work.


Story:
The story of Chrono Crusade takes place in the 1920's America were Rosette Christopher, a Exorcist who's apart of a organization called the Magdala Order, hunts down demons who are going around causing destruction and harm to the citizens of New York. Unfortunately, she has a reputation of causing more destruction than the demons themselves. Aided by her demon partner and close friend Chrono, Rosette sets out on a journey to find her lost brother Joshua and along the way, they meet new friends, allies and powerful and dangerous new enemies. As the plot unfolded, I was amazed on how well Moriyama took a story about exorcists and demons and made it into story of never giving up and beating the odds. There were scenes that were so sad that I actually wanted to shed a tear, it was that powerful for me. Also it has some really funny scenes too, like Rosette getting drunk for the first time.

Also, I want to compare the Anime version which was done by studio Gonzo with the Manga version and how it told the story. For starters both versions start out same with little changes from the Anime version, but there are some parts that were left out or completely change from the Manga version. Like were Rosette becomes a wondering ghost at night, that was actually an amusing and enjoyable side story. In the Anime, however, this scene was left out and I think now that Gonzo should of keep it in.
Instead there were pointless side stories like zombies in Central Park or Chrono gets sick and Rosette going out to I find a cure. These stories were never really that interesting for me and were kind of boring. As for the ending, I don't want to give anyway anything but I will say that the Mangas was more sad for me. The Animes was sad as well but it didn't fell like it was as good as the Mangas in my opinion. I just could fell how Rosette and Chrono felt in the end in of the Manga version then in the Anime version.


Art:
The art is another thing I want to praise here. From the first page all the way to the last page, the art was fantastic and great to look at. The background detail of 1920's New York and all the way to the flying fortress of Eden look really well drawn. Even Moriyama's character designs look a lot better to Gonzo's design. The fight scenes are also well done and are easy to follow so that is also another plus for the Manga.


Character:
Now here's what I really wanted to talk about, the characters. The characters of Chrono Crusade were really fun and enjoyable. Rosette, Chrono, Azumaria, Satella and Aion had there own traits and personalities. With Rosette being a loud mouth and getting her own way and Chrono with his cheer-free attitude and trying to keep Rosette under control. Again, there were changes to these characters in the Anime. I won't talk about every character so I'll only talk about the main ones.

First Rosette, there weren't a lot of changes to her characters. She still had a attitude and was a handful at times but she keep moving forward and did the right thing. So not much change.

Chrono, not much change to his character ether but I will say he was more bad-ass in the Manga. In the Anime, he was kind of a wimp.

Azumaria, I'm going to say that she was more useful in the Manga than she was in the Anime. In the Manga, Azumaria had more of a role (even at the end) and she was more likable. In the Anime, all she really did was stand and look cute.

Satella, just like Azumaria; Satella was way more likable here in Manga. She wasn't a stuck bitch all the time like in the Anime and she actually showed that is did care for her friends. Again, way more useful here.

Finally Aion, Aion was a more calculating character here and at times (when Chrono's past was reviled) he didn't seem to be that bad. He kind of reminded me of Light Yagami from Death Note in way. Where in the Anime, he was just your typical evil character and was also a pervert.


Enjoyment:
I could go on and say how much I enjoyed this Manga but I'm going to keep it simple. I enjoyed the grand scale of the plot, the fine art-style, and the fun and likable characters as they went throw their journey. I enjoy it all and I would read it all again in a heart beat.


Overall:
Man, this is the longest review I've ever wrote, but that just shows how much I like this Manga. I'm really glad I was able to find all eight volumes of Chrono Crusade because now a days, its pretty hard to find them anymore, and their wroth every penny.
Chrono Crusade is easily one of my favorite Mangas of all time and trust me by saying it is wroth the read.

Final score: 10/10.

A little late in writing this review but that's OK. What can I say about Death Note, this Anime is truly one of the best ever made in all of Anime history. With it's excellent story and characters how can you not like it.

Story:
Light Yagami is an ace student with great potential, but he is fed up with crime and evil in world. When he finds a notebook called the "Death Note", everything starts to change from him and the world around. He soon learns that the notebook can be used to killed anyone who's name is written down ... with in the notebook. Now Light has the power to get rid of the world of evil as he claims himself the "God of the New World" and Kira, but as each criminal is killed one by one, the authorities send in the world's greatest detective L to solve the murders and caught the one know as Kira and put him to justice. Now it's a game of cat and mouse to see witch one can caught who and rid him from world.

Animation:
The art is purely fantastic. Each Character is draw perfectly like in the Manga and the background art truly does shine with the buildings and stretchers. Some of the best that I've ever seen.

Sound:
The music of Death Note is done really well with L's Theme and Kitai but sometimes the OST can be dull sometimes.

Character:
The Characters of Death Note are really fun to watch. With the main cast of Light and L is a real treat and ever Matsuda is a good character (I'm serious). As for the Shinigami's, I would say Ryuk was the best out of all of them, just beacuse he looks like a grim reaper.

Enjoyment:
The enjoyment scale of this Anime is very high. With it's unexpected twists and excited story telling, I guarantee you'll love it.

Overall:
Final score, a solid 10 out of 10. Death Note was one of the Animes that helped me become a Anime fan and it truly deserves a spot in the Anime-Manga Hall of Fame.

If you like everything that Rocks, then Beck is the Anime for you. This series had one the best OST's I had ever heard and is one of (if not) the best "Slice of Life" animes I ever watched.

Story:
The series starts out slow Yukio Tanaka, better known for his nickname Koyuki, at his school trying to figure out his life and what his future holds. It soon changes when he meets guitarist Ryusuke Minami after saving his dog Beck, Ryusuke inspires Koyuki to play the guitar after giving him a CD called "The Dying Breed". Later, Ryusuke starts a band called "BECK" ... that consisted of himself, Taira Yoshiyuki, Chiba Tsunemi, Sakurai Yuji and Koyuki, and this is where the series really starts to take off. There's a lot of interesting and random moments in the story that really makes the series great and it makes you think about how they struggles to make it big as a band.

Animation:
The art style of the series is good but it does have it's flaws. The character models sometimes look different then what they looked like in previous episodes but that can be easily avoided.

Sound:
With songs like "Slip Out", "Moon on Water" and "My World Down", you can't go wrong with this OST.

Character:
The characters of the series are really enjoyable to watch, with each having his or hers own personality. Sometimes you can feel that you can relate to these characters, and the Koyuki and Maho pairing is fun to see.

Enjoyment:
This Anime is a Rock fan's dream. Even if Rock is not your thing it's still enjoyable to watch, it's inspirers you to never give up on your dreams.

Overall:
I'll give this Anime a big 10 out of 10, I loved every minute of it with only a few flaws. I suggest that all music fans should watch this series, you'll have fun watching it.