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If you have read the manga first and loved it, it's very likely that you're going to have a bad time: the anime is very different. Usually producers seem to have trouble squeezing in all the necessary elements of a long series into the limited number of episodes, but Black Cat has a bit different approach. Some characters and events have been removed, but then again there are some completely new characters and added scnenes topped with completely different, or maybe I should say extra, ending.

The story revolves around Train Heartnet, a gunman who works for the organization called Chronos but decides to leave ... the organization and lead a different life as a bounty hunter with his new gang. Important themes in the series are choosing one's own road and coming in terms with past. Story is very humoristic with a lot of comedy relief. The fight scenes are mixture of guns and other 'believable' weapons and different 'powers', giving the show a fantasy element.

The comedy is one of Black Cat's strongest points, and it's superbly expressed, having it's own special rhytm and flow. The characters are very charismatic and both contrast and complement each other. Especially the 'main trio' is crafted in a manner that allows lot of spontaneous apparing jokes to spring out from their interaction.

In a nusthell, Black Cat is nice and easy shounen anime. It's enjoyable, but don't memorable. While some scenes, especially in the earlier episodes, are darker than the others, Black Cat doesn't even either even aim for being remembered for it's heart breaking moments or fails at it. Also, a lot has been lost in the translation between the manga and the anime. While the anime isn't bad, it could have been a lot of better if the producers hadn't taken some of the many liberties they did.

In a way, AnoHana is a very brave anime. It certainly is unlike anything I've ever seen before, and you could say it's threading that more or less thin line between art and entertainment, perhaps a bit more tilted towards the art. If you feel that the animes nowadays are all the same, the same clichés and stereotypes in different settings, AnoHana is fo you.

The plot in a nutshell is very simple: a dead childhood friend from the main protagonists past returns to haunt him (not in creepy way) and the group reunites to find the thing the girl needs in order to be ... able to move on. AnoHana is about this group of friends, their relations to one another, the guilt and other feelings the death of their shared friend has aroused in them.

The main element in AnoHana in tragedy, and how different people perceive it and react to it. This anime is on a mission to make you cry. Despite the supernatural element (the ghost of the dead girl, Menma) the characters in AnoHana are very carefully planned and appear to be as wide scale of personalities as possible and, even more importantly, none of them is the perfect Mary Sue. If you haven't watched the series (or even if you have) take an extra assignment: whom of the characters you resesemble the most?

As AnoHana drills into the feelings and personalities of it's characters, there is not really room for anything else in the 11 episodes. You could say AnoHana is about people rather than things or events. Each scene aims to create a strong emotional impact be it nostalgia, joy or sadness. This is both a strength and a weakness: on one hand the series can be a very powerful emotional experience, on the other hand some of us may feel that there is very important elements missing. AnoHana has nothing you could chew and process in your thoughts. Like a soup or a game with low replay value, you experience it and then it's gone. I can't see myself watching AnoHana again. I cried for it once, a second round would hardly bring anything new to it.

I believe this to be an anime that divides opinions. If you are a fan of drama and tragedy, watch it. If you prefer a traditional shounen format of saving the word or protecting friends, you probably don't get too much out of this. It's a matter of genre, and perhaps a bit of stepping aside for stereotypical genre formats. AnoHana about small, insignificant people and their insifnigant lives. Personally, I think that exactly is brilliant.

On one hand we have deep bonds between friends, an amnesiac searching for his true identity, a journey to the unknown in form of an epic escape, fight scenes and training. On the other hand we have tons of bishounens frolicking around and almost none females in sight, suspicously close relationships between said bishounens, the drama and the tragedy. 07-Ghost appears to have born of stereotypical shoujo and shounen ingredients mixed together in a large pot, spiced with some fitting music and awesome scenery.

The main character, Teito Klein, isn't the best protagonist there is. He is an angsty kid talented in fighting, and his ... emoness is pretty much defines his character. Some of the other characters are portrayed better and more deeply (mainly thinking of Frau and Hakuren here) but in overall characters lack depth that would have been possible to portray in 26 episodes.

I haven't read the 07-Ghost manga, but I suspect that the makers have more or less struggled fitting the main points of the still continuing manga into a sense making entirety with a start and an ending. The ending of 07-Ghost is like a running into a wall. All of the main points of the series are left unsolved, it just... ends.

That's the bad stuff out of the way. Now, the good stuff.

The background art and the music in the series are very good: especially the guys who drew those backgrounds really knew what they were doing. Not only they go well with the story, but with each other as well. The feeling of watching 07-Ghost is the same when I was reading first Harry Potter book for the first time. The new, magical word and environemnt are beautiful and exiting, and somehow full of feeling: majestic hallways, the peaceful garden and and a calming fountain. It makes you wish 07-Ghost is a game, so you could just stroll around and explore the area by yourself.

So, what is needed to enjoy 07-Ghost? A pair of yaoi goggles, appreciation for pretty anime boys and a mind that can be swept away by magic, feelings and pretty things.

The plot of Bakuretshu Tenshi (or Burst Angel) anime doesn't go through the same events as manga, which I heard was created afterwards as a prequel. You are not missing out on anything important in case you haven't heard of it, but if you end up as a fan of the series, give it a read.

First of all, I enjoyed Bakuretsu Tenshi greatly, and without a doubt many others will as well. However, if we look at the series with a critical eye, it's very hard to give it a thumbs up. The character development is almost nonexistent, the plot is fragmented ... and repeats itself. The characters and the setup are great, both have a potential for much more epic anime.

Tags list Bakuretsu Tenshi to be a mecha anime, and they indeed make an appearance, but if you are a mecha fan and start the series to see some awesomnessm you are going to be disappointed. The mechas are few and far between, and do not play a major part in the story.

Bakuretsu Tenshi concentrates in the life and adventures of a small group of female mercenaries. We have a smartass loli Amy, badass soldier Jo (small boobs), soldier's clumsy redhaired sidekick Meg (big boobs) and the calm and collected leader Sei (big boobs). The spotlight is on Jo and Meg. During the series they simply do their job, but often run into mystical glowing mutant brains that seem to cause mayhem.

The plot isn't very coherent and clear, you could say it's missing a solid core. The main focus is on action, occasional comedy and fanservice. Those three are what makes Bakuretsu Tenshi worth watching. Especially the fanservice. The series has a very yurish vibe to it, even though it's not clearly stated.

I would recommend the series for those who like to see girls in action, because that is the most pleasurable thing Bakuretsu Tenshi. Jo's awesomness and her relationship with Meg. The most hardcore yuri fans may even forgive Meg's extremely annoying habit of being no help and always the damsel in distress, because this is a great opportunity for Jo to waltz in and be her knight in shining armor. And there will be lots of naughty 'oh thank god you survived!' lesbian sex. There isn't actually, in the series, but it's there in my head all the same.

Another is an anime for those of us who love mystery and horror, but horror more than mystery. If you watch this show mainly to stimulate your brain and think hard, to evaluate options and guess outcomes, you will most likely be disappointed. This is no Scooby Doo: there is no logical explanation to the main horror elements in the show.

The series consists of 12 episodes and 1 OVA, which I have seen titled to be an episode 0. In chronological order the OVA is first, but I would recommend watching it last for maximum enjoyment.

After watching the first episodes of this anime, I ... was a bit disappointed. While the atmospehere was good, the story seemed to be very basic and uncreative ghost story. Something that I might expect from an American B-class horror film. Another soon proved me wrong: storyline was both interesting and unique, progressed with a good pace and even provided an optimal amount of comedy relief to underline the horror parts. The only major flaw was sometimes bit too convenient coincidences that serve as interruptions and keep the characters from exchanging vital information. Depending how you look at it, even that might be understandable, as Another is based on supernatural powers.

The soundtrack is very basic horror, an old and tested format that relies on contrasts of very loud, sudden noises and suffocating silence. It is used often... because it works. In Another music and sound is a tool rather than there for artistic reasons: it is there to server a purpose of making the audience anxious rather than being pretty. You don't really pay attention to it, except when it's overbearingly loud. I watched the show with headphones on, and sometimes it was difficult to adjust to volume to the level I liked. If I heard the characters voices as I wanted, the sudden noises not only startled me, they hurt my ears.

As it often is in series as short as this, the characters really didn't have the time to develope. Another is no exception: most characters are rather simple, their main point in ther story is just die in gruesome ways. Their history and personalities below sterotypes are not really given time in the story. In this way Another is a bit more of a mystery story: we see the world through the thoughts of the main protagonist, everyone else is more or less mystery.

What really appeals to me in Another is the unique nature of the horror: there is no malice. Haven't we all seen a dozen of movies about hounted houses built on top of cemetaries or bitterness of the people who have died cruesome death? In Another, shit just happens. And when it happens, anything can be dangerous. It keeps you on your toes, thinking how many possibilities for death there is in everyday life. No matter is there reason or not, what started it, when there is no motive it feels more grand that a mission of a single vengeful ghost. It's like a law of nature, impossible to fight against.

009-1 is action orientated scifi, set in an alternative universe where the cold war is still going on. 009-1 is a code name for a slightly cyborgivied, female version of James Bond who completes missions and kills agents of the Eastern Block with more or less ease, stays cool and sexy in dangerous situations and provides pretty good fanservice.

While I enjoyed the series I think I'm too young to enjoy it in it's full potential. Series isn't as old as you would guess just by looking at the art. Both music and the artwork look old, which without a doubt is the intention. 009-1 ... aims to breath life into the 'secret agent' theme in action, which has lost some of its glamour during the past decade. To older viewers 009-1 can be a welcome breeze of nostalgia, but the younger generations might see old as just, well, old. In all honestly, the artwork was pretty unattractive to me: the heads seem to be shaped oddly and noses seem far too large.

Most of the missions portrayed in the series are finsihed during one episode. One of the fortes of 009-1 are the bad guys: most of them have history and personalities instead of being just nameless enemies, destined to be killed by the heroine. 009-1 carefully and loyally maintains the stereotypical propaganda of evilness of the Eastern Block that was typical for James Bond and the like, but still manages to make that evilness interesting and intricate.

On the other hand, small and practically separate stories make the stroryline as a whole seem fragmented. 009-1 isn't as 'addicitve' as many other series. There is very little to look forward to in the next episode, no cliff hangers or an actual progress in the story. While the last few episodes try to tie loose ends together and there are revelations from the heroines past, it isn't quite enough. It is as the series is done mainly for the secrent agent theme and action, not because there would be a story to tell. Sometimes the characters end up being only tools for the plot but in 009-1, the plot is just a tool for characters.

If girls in action and secret agents are your thing, this series is definetly worth watching. If not, you will most likely end up waiting the real plot to unfold itself all up until the series ends.