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Now, the row of 8's may actually leave many baffled or doubting of the seriousness of this review, but I assure you all scores were given impartially and after long thought.

Also, the show is still going so the review may well be subject to change, but I felt I had to do something about the ridiculous rating: the score as of now is 6.82, which is the average for EXTREMELY BAD anime. Not kidding: EXTREMELY. BAD. Yama no Susume, however, is frankly one of the shows I look forward each week, so I hope this review will encourage more people to watch it.

Enjoyment: 8 ...
To hell with the MAL order. I watch anime to have a good time, so enjoyment is the most important point. Hence, the last will be first. (Translated for my grandma reading me from the North Pole: I'm apologizing for putting the last point first in order.)

Yama no Susume is WILDLY enjoyable. It actually changed how I look at mountains: once, they were big rocks without meaning. Then, a lovely sight and a good photographic subject.
Now, they are places I'd like to dwell in.
Still, I find that for 5 minutes of your life, they can be well spent while watching Yama no Susume. It takes as much time as a smoke, but it won't kill you.

Story: 8
Let's face it: Yama no Susume is not a thriller, nor a romance story. If you're looking for plot twists, keep looking as you'll find none. However, if we consider YnS a slice-of-life comedy I think the story is actually quite good. It's plausible, and yet funny. It's logical, and yet moving. Heck, this is a life any of us could well have lived: how do you call an anime about people with magical powers or mecha "slice of life" ? So, sticking to this definition of Slice, Yama no Susume is actually quite good in my opinion.

Bottom line: It's not an action anime, but I still found the story to be very enjoyable.

Art: 8
Fresh, light-hearted and colorful without ever great taste. Not quite as comedic as Kotoura-San, neither as artistic as Sakurasou na Pet no Kanojo, and I think that's a good side: an up-the-ante art would have really looked off against the story. Still, they could break the boundary a little in the comedy moments.

Bottom line: Botticelli didn't draw this, but I think it adds to the lightheartedness of the anime. Yes, you write lightheartedness without hyphens

Writing this review without making any spoiler is proving much harder than I'd predicted, especially without even mentioning the events in episode 1 or 2, so I suggest you just look at this anime for yourself as my review could well be inaccurate.

However, Ano Natsu de Matteru is the example of what experience, wisdom and a solid background in the setting you're using can accomplish.

The story is certainly among the strong points of Ano Natsu: the plot is enjoyable, fresh and most of all delivered through quite unique narrative devices. However, for how fresh and creatively delivered, I've found it to be a little predictable, ... which explains the -2 to the otherwise 10.

However, I'd say art is one of the big guns for this anime: the colours are vibrant, the photography well tought of, and the composition of the sceneries clearly and well planned: while there's no extremely new setting to praise, the outstanding execution of the sceneries is worthy of honors. The exact same goes for Sound: I wasn't emphatic, but I was impressed.

Characterization is AnoNatsu's focus, and I'd say it's pretty dead obvious. Considering the stakes were this high, you'd think they'd at least fall short of expectations.
Nope.
Each and every character is well defined, even while changing: change's among what makes us human after all, so the ability to keep a character in itself while changing should really, really be praised. Considering this, why didn't I give a 10 to characters? Simply put, I'd have liked to see some more dynamic guys.

Overall, I don't know how much of the anime I was able to convey you without spoilering any part of the story, so really have a look at it and eventually let me know how accurate you've found this review!

First of all: only giving 8s to Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is not a prank or joke.

Tokyo M8 has a number of strong points, and a number of weaker ones, so this review will actually be component-developed (e.g. "let's discuss the art!") rather than pro-con comparing, in order to keep complexity to a minimum and meaningfulness to a maximum.

So, let's discuss the art! It is widely resonating with the anime: while showing the harshness of the context, it does let a few rays of hope through. You can see actual people with dreams, fears and hopes walk on the gritty textures of concrete blocks and the ... asphalt. However, this sometimes works against certain climaxes (which I won't mention as not to spoiler anything). The colour palette however does let me a bit down: considering the drawing style, I'd have adapted a more vivid could range, maybe thus further emphasizing the greys. All in all, the art isn't bad at all, but I'd work on the colours. Nothing that a good post-processing can't fix.

The sound is widely enjoyable: the voice actors do get in the part, and perform extremely well. Ambiental sounds are very accurate too, which isn't banale when working with huge events or big machines.

On to the supposedly strong point of Tokyo M8: Characterization. It should be noted that the authors took a clear stance on this, as they follow the story from the eyes of a 12 years old girl, certainly one of the most psychologically turbulent ages of one's life (usually).
Taken the authors wish in consideration, one surely appreciates the emotional journey of young Mirai and her sidekicks, her little brother Yuuki and delivery-woman Mari. The dialogues are meaningful, well tought of, and carefully phrased. Not once a character is estranged from his role. However, this inherently implies a rather linear developing of the plot, if one can read through the characters.
A funny note: maybe the authors didn't realize, but they quoted a play from ancient rome, the Heautontimorùmenos (big bad ass greek compound for "The self-punishing"), where a character says "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto", through the answer Mari gives to the question "Why are you helping us?".

Overall, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is widely enjoyable, and may teach us something we didn't know about Japanese disaster handling (which I regard as state of the art in its sector). Look at it, it won't be time wasted!

"Things of excellence will not die" - Japanese proverb.

While some may argue it's far easier when you have a whole month to plan ahead, I'd say Katanagatari is the perfect example of what happens when you aim for quality and art, rather than dvd sales and ads.

(Relatively) No one knows this anime, whereas everyone should do so.

How comes I didn't give Katanagatari a 10 then? The ending left me a bit blue.
Somehow, the finale doesn't feel right to me. While there are some notable precedents to jaw-dropping finales, this was more shocking than surprising.

Yes, I'm that much selfish. However, works of entertainment should ... be judged on how well they did provide leisure, right? So it's only normal that a less enjoyable ending influenced the score.

Still, Katanagatari is extremely close to being a masterpiece, and might well be so once I get over the end.

The art is amazing and even better at times, if anything it can serve a little too much fanservice: the fans of the genre will be elated, however.
The narration has no fillers, an extreme intellectual honesty, and a really enticing narration.
Music is in a class of its own: perfectly tailored to the setting, and actually pleasurable to listen to! I even have the first opening on my MP3 alongside Mozart.

Bottom line: watch it if you're not doing so already!

This anime is a small miracle. Nothing short of it.
How comes?

The perfect balance.

The art is simply outstanding: from the blue colors of Menma's eyes to the last brick of the bridge, everything is just perfect. There's a grace in the composition I haven't found anywhere else.

The music would well be worth a cd on its own: both the opening and ending fit the mood of every episode like a glove. It's exactly as it should be: bittersweet, but with a positive outlook.

However, the strong point of this anime is not really either art or music, but rather the narration and the story.
A handbook guide for ... every future anime, in my opinion: not only fillerless (that might sound obvious with 11 episodes, but trust me, it isn't), but as paced as a carefully calibrated engine. From the light moments to the most touching ones, not once you're estranged from the narrating pace. Not once could I think of a better way of telling the same events, not once.

The story is also a work of art in itself, probably an even better one than the narration: touching, but not melodramatic; happy, but not careless. It was truly touching, and I stress the "truly".
I feel extremely satisfied from learning of it: I wish more people would know it.

Bottom line: AnoHana it's one the many small yet huge accomplishments of humanity; those achievements that do not roar at the passing of time, but inexorably change everyone that comes in contact with it.
And I feel it changes for the better.