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Yielded by some as a new generation Miyazaki equivalent, Makoto Shinkai has become an increasingly popular name within the anime industry. Shinkai's most well-known work, 5 Centimeters Per Second, has long since swooned the hearts of many, crafting a public fascination with his talent and immense potential for animated film. Kimi no Na wa (Your Name), without a doubt, captures the same feeling and style that is associated with Makoto Shinkai's past works, however also seems a bit more experimental and unconventional in comparison. Shinkai took a gamble at trying something new with Kimi no Na wa and, by all means, it certainly paid off.

One ... of the most notable differences between Kimi no Na wa and Shinkai's previous films is the abundance of humor and a feeling of lightheartedness that one would expect to find in a seasonal airing slice of life. For a Shinkai film, which are notorious for being somewhat depressing, Kimi no Na was something of a pleasant surprise. There were many references to Shinkai's other works, most notably 5 Centimeters Per Second and The Garden of Words, which also offered a sense of excitement (if caught). The film plays out similarly to a quirky, fun slice of life until it begins to reach the movie's main conflict. While the first half of the movie, roughly, had a light, fun air to it, it transitions fairly abruptly to the more serious plot. As a slight directing mistake, it is similar to transitioning from a warm smile to a somber frown and one of the few blemishes that afflict the film.

Kimi no Na wa focuses heavily on the two main characters and the developing bond they have shared due to supernatural circumstances. Ultimately, the overarching story isn't anything complex or immensely special. It is a romantically focused movie and, as such, puts romance in front of everything else. Though the romance itself was nice, the resolution of the main conflict is both perplexing and contrived. Thankfully this and the previously mentioned halfway transition do not hinder one's enjoyment of the film. However, in terms of writing and overall story, Shinkai could still use some work. If nothing else, Kimi no Na Wa is a reflection of Shinkai's willingness to step outside of his comfort zone to improve his craft. Despite a few hiccups here, I believe he will have great things in store for us within his future projects.

Mitsuha and Taki are the two main characters of Kimi no Na wa, and most of the film revolves around their contrasting lives. Mitsuha lives in the countryside, while Taki lives in the grand city of Tokyo. Through supernatural circumstances, they form a bond with each other and have their fill of comedic, fun shenanigans. While both characters are enjoyable to watch, not much depth really goes into either of them. In fact, not much depth really goes into any of the characters of the film period. While it works with how the movie is constructed, it leaves characters feeling rather shallow. Aside from Mitsuha, we don't know all too much about Taki, or any of the other supporting cast, and it's a bit disappointing. Kimi no Na wa could have possibly remedied this simply by being longer, but adding to the already lengthy exposition could have questionable results.

In terms of art, sound, and animation, there really is nothing negative to say. Shinkai is very well-known for producing visually astounding films, with people occasionally joking that 5 Centimeters Per Second is essentially 5 wallpapers per second. Kimi no Na wa is no different. It is a very gorgeous film from start to finish. From the characters to the scenery, the film is stellar, with Makoto Shinkai pulling no punches. Sound-wise, the film is also very good. Soundtrack selection is very fitting, and nothing feels out of place.

Overall, Kimi no Na wa was a very good film, though not nearly as perfect as many people, who have also seen the premiere, are claiming it to be. There are a few issues that hold the film back, but it is easily still worth two hours of anyone's time. With Makoto Shinkai creating quality works such as Your Name, it has, and will, become increasingly difficult to forget his.

In the Ergastulum justice system, breaking any of the three laws is considered especially heinous. In Ergastulum, the dedicated individuals who investigate these vicious felonies are members of the laid-back duo known as the Benriya. These are their stories.

In the city of Ergastulum, violence, narcotics, and sex run rampant. For a series named Gangsta, it comes as an expectation of sorts. For anime, as a medium, an excess of violence, drugs, and real world sexual themes (doping prostitutes and pimping, which is far different than ecchi) are rarely put in place as a combination to form the core of a series. Gangsta utilizes this fact ... and diligently puts it to use, allowing it to lure in those who are curious. In more ways than one, Gangsta comes off as a flashier mobster film equivalent from Western media.

The narrative of Gangsta follows the life of three main characters: Worick, Nicolas, and Alex. As Benriya (the Handymen), Worick and Nicolas are depicted as hired muscle doing odd jobs around the city, mainly for the big organized crime families — of which they are very acquainted with — and the police. The duo supposedly walk the line of neutrality, but it is seemingly a farce, given how deep they are affiliated with the powerful figures that run the city. The overall story of the series revolves around Twilights, people with enhanced, drug-induced capabilities which exceeds that of a normal person's by varying amounts. Their strength, or combat capabilities rather, are ranked from D to S, the latter being the highest. Like the case with all differences, being a Twilight brings upon discrimination. This acts as the main strife in the series, as increasing tensions build up around the city.

While the environment of Ergastulum is eventful and entertaining, the direction that Gangsta moves towards often strays from a decisive path. This is one of the biggest issues that Gangsta has: the sub-plots are shallow and detract from the story as a whole. As one goes progresses through the series, countless characters come and go. New characters seem to pop up every couple of episodes, but you can never be sure if they're actually going to be anyone that's relevant; usually they aren't. Because of the amount of characters and their individual problems, there's simply too much information and too little time to present it. The series only just begins to get into the big conflict during the last third of the show but, even then, it ends abruptly at a cliffhanger.

Another aspect of the series that seemed very dull and recycled, to me at least, was the rankings of tags that the Twilights possess. To put it in honest terms, it's really just power-levels renamed. I'm personally not a big fan of power-levels being ranked; it takes a lot away from the potential of fights in a series since you already know who's stronger and projected to win. With that being said, the violence in Gangsta is probably still a great selling point for many. The fights aren't bad, but they leave something to be desired.

As previously mentioned, the amount of characters that Gangsta introduces in such a short amount of time is seriously astounding. We get enough backstory about Worick and Nicolas, obviously because they are the main duo, but there's not much regarding any of the supporting cast affiliated with the big families, the hunters, or the guild. Ginger? Gina Paulklee? Literally who? As one of the main characters, I was expecting a bit more out of Alex. Besides recovering from her destructive lifestyle as a prostitute, she doesn't do much else other than house sitting the Benriya bachelor pad. I understand the purpose behind Alex's character, but she feels a bit out of place and useless as a main character. Her struggles with coming clean adds a light element of a feel-good story, but she could have easily been just a supporting character and not much would have changed. From how the series portrays her, she appears to only serve as a staple that showcases how Worick and Nicolas are good guys. Oh, and fan service.

In terms of visual quality, I thought that Manglobe did pretty well. Visually, the show appears to be a good adaptation of the manga. In terms of audio, Renegade, by the Stereo Dive Foundation, is memorable. The overall OST is also pretty good.

Whether or not Gangsta can actually be considered good is up for debate and what you come to expect when defining something as actually good. In comparison to the rest of the Summer '15 season, it was certainly one of the better shows that aired, but that's simply because the season as a whole was quite barren. Ultimately, Gangsta had a lot of interesting ideas, and even potentially interesting characters, but none of that matters if it is not utilized.

The genre of mystery in anime seems to be a source that is untapped and scarcely utilized. Unfortunately, it seems to be for a good reason. Making a mystery that is well-written requires a lot of forethought, consideration of plot holes, and a compelling set of characters, hence why writing for the genre is difficult. In anime especially, which is undeniably conformist to its own tropes and studio-distinct styles, mystery is an element that has yet to be articulated in a graceful, intelligent manner all the way through. Rokka no Yuusha makes attempts at crafting a good 'who done it?' series, but ultimately fails at ... creating anything of substance.

What begins as an adventure story that is about to embark slowly comes to a close as a dull, slow-paced guessing game to pinpoint who among the seven heroes is the traitorous fake. The biggest problem that Rokka no Yuusha has, in regards to this development, is that there is barely any real mystery behind it. It is not well-crafted nor is it thought-provoking. The issue doesn't lie with the idea, but rather with the way that the idea was conceptualized and presented. Although most of the series is supposed to be some sort of mystery, you can easily narrow down your choices of who the traitor is whilst being only halfway through the series. The build up of the mystery simply never reaches a high enough peak for the reveal to create any impact upon the final reveal. When the mystery concludes it is expectantly very lackluster. To top everything off, the ending cliffhanger is eye-roll inducing and outright distasteful. I barely could sit through these twelve episodes, and I sure as hell would not sit through another twelve that follows the same ludicrous scenario.

The characters of Rokka no Yuusha are very plain, which adds to the reason of why the series can't sell itself as a decent mystery series. Every character is distinct, but also very stale. The only character that I could even come close to liking was Adlet. Adlet, when keeping his delusional strongest man in the world spiel to himself, is somewhat of a refreshing character in the sense that he's not especially overpowered just for being the main protagonist. As a jack of all trades, Adlet uses knowledge, tools, and tricks to cover his lack of gifted ability. Compared to the other braves, whose powers all seem to come right out of their asses, he's at least interesting. The rest of the characters lack development and feel extremely shallow. Most of the interaction(s) between the braves feel hammy and very silly overall. For a 'who done it' series, which is dependent on its characters, Rokka no Yuusha only manages to gather a mundane bunch.

Passione, a new studio with only a couple other works behind its name, unfortunately does not provide any stellar results in the visual department to help offset the series' lacking content. I am typically not a fan of 3D animation being mixed with 2D; it usually looks terrible, in my opinion. Nashetania's blades looking like plastic toys, the sluggish looking/moving demons, and Maura's power being a bunch of flying yellow squares are disappointing to look at, to say the least. There are also many instances where characters look very poorly drawn.

The audio pieces of the series don't stand out to me personally, though the ED was fairly decent. Nothing in the actual soundtrack particularly caught my attention.

Rokka no Yuusha aligns itself perfectly with mediocrity, leaving more to be desired but not finding any means to satisfy it. The anime isn't bad enough to actually be labeled as bad, but not nearly good enough to be classified as anywhere above average.

If there's anything to take away from Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru, it's that people can be very fickle, confusing beings. People are different, and that is somewhat to be expected. Some people are more extroverted than others, and some are more introverted. Some people are more perceptive and can read social situations better than others. Some people have grown weary of the strings of social stigmas and expectations that come attached when interacting with others. However, it doesn't really matter which type of social personality that one identifies with or how different you might think you are from your peers. Humans ... are social beings and we instinctively desire contact with others. We desire to be praised and acknowledged. We desire our opinions and actions to be noticed and heard. We desire love and companionship. We desire compassion and mutual understanding. However deep down inside, we also desire something more. It's something that we're often unsure if we already have or whether we can obtain it. Sometimes, it's easier to be satisfied by the blissful facade than having the real thing. Nonetheless, we still desire that little extra something. Something genuine.

The second season of Oregairu takes a step — or a few steps rather — away from the hook that grabbed the attention of many in the first season; it shies away from the anti-social protagonist point-of-view and begins to crunch down on the development of the cast, rather than the snarky humor, sarcastic tone, and dark knight approach that was prevalent in the first season. Though still apparent, along with Hachiman's inner monologues, they are not utilized to quite the same scale as the first season. If you came for solely those things, you'll likely be disappointed with what the second season of Oregairu has to offer.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru Zoku attributes most of it's focus onto the growth of the series' characters, rather than events where Hachiman commits social suicide for the benefit of others. This character growth extends past the service club, as we're given a little more insight into Hayama and his clique throughout the season. We're also introduced to Hachiman's underclassman Iroha, who adds a bit more audacity and flare to the character lineup. Along with the new addition of Iroha, the second season of Oregairu attempts to really push the romance sub-genre onto the stage. Whether you enjoy shipping characters and partaking in waifu wars is left to your own discretion.

In spite of the supporting cast getting their turn in the spotlight, the headliner is still Hachiman, as he resumes his pivotal role of the leading male protagonist of the series. One of the greatest aspects about this series was, and still is, Hachiman as a character. Simply put, his character is well-written, likeable, and refreshing. Hachiman's character as gone a long way from the start of the first season to the end of the second season, and it's interesting to see how his experiences have sparked his gradual change from social outcast to someone acknowledged by his peers. In addition to Hachiman, Yukino also undergoes a considerable amount of changes. Unfortunately, her family issues are only lightly touched upon near the end of this season, acting as the cliffhanger for the later light novels, and possibly a potential third season.

Despite having a substantially different feel (pun intended) than its preceding season, I did find that Zoku had both merits and flaws. One of the biggest changes in the series, besides the change in studios, was the change in both content quality and pacing. As the series descends into more of a drama than romantic comedy, one would expect the pacing to slow down substantially. Oregairu has always been a very character-driven series, but with the extra emphasis on the supporting characters, there didn't seem to be enough screen time allotted to making sure key events and important monologues were executed coherently. As a result, many scenes felt like a contest of who could spill the most spaghetti. If you've read the light novels, the show will likely come off as disappointing, as the anime tends to look far more melodramatic due to less content. On the flip side, I do believe that Studio Feel did an adequate job with the series, all things considered. I thought the art and animation were actually quite good, though some designs from the first season seemed a bit better to me personally. I'm not one to nitpick about OP's and ED's, given that I usually skip them, and there wasn't anything noteworthy here.

One of my biggest gripes with Oregairu, the anime in particular, is that it is praised far too often for things that it doesn't really deserve that much praise for. Many people watch Oregairu and self-insert into Hachiman, which is perfectly fine since you can do whatever you want, but that emotional connection detracts from one's perspective of how well a story is actually written. I find Oregairu to be a pretty good series, but that doesn't mean it's time to sweep all the negative aspects under the rug simply because it's a little different. A lot of the issues and events in this series are excessively melodramatic. From the perspective of any adult, or mature individual, watching this series, many of the problems that plague the characters are quite petty. They are problems that should realistically be resolved by sitting everyone down and talking things through instead of having everyone play connect the dots. But that wouldn't be interesting, right?

The goal of many anime series is to promote the source material. In this case, it's to coerce viewers to read the Light Novels. To get the full experience, while also filling in the missing gaps from the show, I would recommend doing so.

There's a perpetual, particular mindset that one must have in order to appreciate and enjoy magic. It's something innocent. It's something that makes you appreciate the awe and wonder presented in the moment; a beautiful deception. A part of you will want to know the answer, constantly hunting for the secret. But another part of you doesn't mind. It's something that you want to know the answer to, but know you shouldn't. That's because you know the answer doesn't matter. You want to be fooled.

Magic Kaito 1412 is a rather simplistic show, despite magic being its core element. It's an episodic series and, as such, ... doesn't require much of an obligation to follow intently. Like all episodic series, some episodes will also be better than others. However, this layout works impeccably well for this particular show; I couldn't imagine it being done differently. For the most part, Magic Kaito is broken down into heists that usually span one episode, with the occasional part-two. In each episode Kaito dons the persona of the Kaito Kid, an unconventional, gentlemanly thief, who steals rare jewelry and returns it shortly afterwards. He often performs his heists in a flashy manner, which often becomes something like a free, public magic show. Periodically, characters from Detective Conan make appearances (Shinichi/Conan really being the only relevant figure, of course), which is entertaining in its own right.

Due to the episodic nature of the series, many of the characters who appear in Magic Kaito are not recurring. The only characters who appear in every episode are Kaito and Aoko, who have been friends, and neighbors, since childhood. The dynamic between Kaito and Aoko is very light-hearted and exactly what you would expect from close friends. Their relationship, for the most part, seems fun and realistic, yet also quite childish and pure. They tease one another, but also know when to support each other as well. They share quite a few sweet, romantic moments in the series, which was a more refreshing type of intimacy that you rarely see in many shows nowadays. It's not overbearing, nor is it the main focus, but it offers a warm, cozy feeling nonetheless. Unfortunately, character development is not a strong point of Magic Kaito. There isn't much growth or change in any of the characters, so what you see is what you're going to get from episode one onwards. In addition, many of the characters in the series give off the impression of being fairly dumb, to be quite frank. But, I suppose there's a certain pitiful charm to their stupidity that slowly becomes endearing.

The art, animation, and sound are easily the weakest points of Magic Kaito, though that is something that's to be completely expected. This is not a show with high production values and it never gave off any impressions of being one. It doesn't have the best visual appeal, nor is the soundtrack anything special. However, production values don't mean everything. Magic Kaito takes a more humble approach to a very pleasant series and it works well enough.

In spite of its exceedingly lacking popularity, Magic Kaito 1412 was a very delightful, lively watch. The heart of all magic tricks and illusions lies within the enjoyment of the people watching, a point that is well pointed out in this series. In that regard, Magic Kaito 1412 succeeds.

Morality is, and always will be, a perpetual grey area; it is akin to something like a no man's land. It's a subject that brings about wonder, bewilderment, and also hostility. Are human beings innately morally good or are human beings naturally inclined to be morally evil? What is considered morally good and what is considered morally evil? What draws the line between the two, and how does this get decided? There is no real, correct answer. As a follow up to the very controversial Death Billiards, Death Parade arrives and elevates these inquiries. As a viewer, you will venture into Quindecim with many questions. ... Unfortunately, you will likely leave with an unequal amount of answers.

Morality acts as the big hook which Death Billiards, and subsequently Death Parade, employs in order to draw in the initial interest of the viewer. However, this is somewhat of a bait-and-switch given that the series doesn't retain the concept of open-ended judgments, like done in Death Billiards. When I watched Death Billiards, and also the first episode of Death Parade, this was one of the biggest attractions that the series had. It felt engrossing and pushed me to ponder substantially more than your average show. Sadly, Death Parade does not choose to continue down this path. Instead, the show opts to offer explanations for things that could have been better if left to the imagination. To me, it felt a bit intellectually insulting to be given a breakdown and explanation of who received reincarnation, who received the void, and why.

Story-wise, Death Parade is a very character-driven series that heavily utilizes games and their participants as major plot-devices, almost to a fault. Because of the reliance on these two as plot-devices, Death Parade seems to suffer from the perspective of a solid, linear narrative. The heavy emphasis on the games, and the minor characters who partake in them, leave many aspects about the show, which potentially may have yielded something interesting, only lightly touched upon. Due to the necessity of Decim and Onna needing to grow as characters, more emphasis was put on the games and Decim's resulting gradual enlightenment. Because of this, conflicts and characters on the side are left unexplored. As a result, Death Parade, to some, will seem inconclusive upon completion. Whether or not one finds this to be a good thing, or a complete deal-breaker, is up to the viewer's discretion.

While the games themselves aren’t all too imaginative, ranging from throwing darts, bowling, air hockey, an arcade fighter, and even twister, they certainly act as a fascinating, exceptional medium to force conflict. People tend to act differently under competitive, pressured circumstances, and that is an essence portrayed well in this series. In fact, I would say that Death Parade captures the essence and nature of people pretty damn well. People tend to be stupid, egotistical, and selfish far more often than genuinely good. The ratio of the two in this series reflects this. Despite the game shenanigans providing a new, refreshing form of entertainment, I couldn't imagine Death Parade being longer than a single-cour series while still being very successful; the games, people's reactions, and judgments would become a stagnant, tedious routine, losing its compelling nature.

Although Death Parade is exceedingly character-driven, many of the recurring characters, who should be important, aren't very important. In my opinion, this is one if the biggest problems that Death Parade has. Why introduce an intriguing set of characters who essentially add nothing to the series except for a vague sense of mystery? One could easily remove characters such as Clavis, Oculus, Quin and not much would change. The same could be said about Nona and Ginti, who desperately could have used more fleshing out. Many of the game participants were far more interesting than the arbiter crew and company, and I'd say that leans more on the negative side than the positive. The only two exceptions to this are Decim and Onna, who are focal points of the series.

Although I’ve outlined some of the biggest flaws I found in Death Parade, all things considered, it was still a very enjoyable show. A large part of this is due to the wonderful production values and execution this series has. Madhouse did a fantastic job with this series visually, which certainly did the series justice. Sound-wise, Death Parade knew when to be both proper and ludicrous, adding that little extra 'oomph!' to the show's overall enjoyment. If Flyers, by BRADIO, doesn't put a smile on your face, then I don't know what will.

In conclusion, I still can't say that there is a clear, absolute answer to the ambiguous nature of morality. I don't believe the arbiters quite know themselves either. Maybe arbiters and humans are closer than perceived; we're both left without a definitive answer in regards to what is truly good and what is truly evil, and yet still make attempts at self-serving rationalizations. Regardless of this, I am still left contemplating the idea. Perhaps man is naturally good, created in the image of God, the creator of all things, who is wise, just, and benevolent. Perhaps man is naturally evil, influenced by their inner devil, and are inclined to be selfish, jealous, and greedy beings who are full of malice and misconstrued perceptions. Perhaps man is only inclined to deem acts good or evil based upon learned social acceptability. Perhaps I, amongst many others, am not meant to know the answer.

"With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone." - Oscar Wilde

With the passing of every year one can't help but feel nostalgic at times. As you get older, you might find yourself asking, "Where did all the time go?" or "When did I get so old?" In those moments, we often find ourselves looking back towards the past. There were moments that you felt happy and sad, content and depressed, ecstatic and lazy, full of love and full of regret. There were the soaring highs and there were the abysmal lows. There were moments when you wondered what if. Would things have turned out ... differently? Did I make the wrong choices? The possibilities are so vast that they can make your mind wander endlessly. However, the past is the past and what's done is done. After all, what good is a life that starts with an "if"? You are right here.

Otona Joshi no Anime Time is a set of four short stories that peer into the lives of Japanese women. This isn't a series that's full of bliss, but rather a crude, unpolished look at what life really is, and can be like. For some, it may be extremely touching and heartfelt. For others, it might seem uninteresting and boring. Having completed all four of the episodes myself, I would say that this series is deliberately intended for a more mature audience. It's a series that makes you look over your shoulder, wondering if you made the right choices. It's a series that makes you afraid of getting old. It's a series that makes you want to go home and tell your mom that you love her.

Each episode has their own varying degree of earnestness and subtleties; some of the stories come off as very disheartening, and others empowering. However, within each episode lies a lesson. Using well-crafted symbolism, dialogue, and direction, it's as if you've been bestowed with a little bit of life's wisdom after each twenty minute segment. It's empowering and it's beautiful. The art, animation, and sound were good, all being somewhat different, yet fitting. But that's not what's really important here. It's not something you watch to be wowed by visuals. It's something you watch to be wowed by realism.

At some point or another in your anime-watching lifetime, you should watch these episodes. It's not because they're episodes full of cutesy girls doing cute things, mindless shounen asspull entertainment, pixelated crotch teasers, or 2deep4u plot twists. You should watch these episodes because they showcase what it means to live.

What happened to my comfy slice of life series about glass blowing? I asked myself this question every single time I finished an episode and the ED started rolling. After somehow managing to finish this awful series about teenage angst, forced drama, and supernatural horseshit, I feel disappointed. Not only in this series, but also in myself. Somewhere deep inside me must reside a little masochist devil that enjoys watching me suffer through terrible anime.

Saying that Glasslip had a story is laughable. It's as if the writing behind the series just patched together random ideas and put it on the screen. Even upon completion ... I don't understand what this series was trying to convey. Be shallow and fall for the good-looking, up-and-coming sociopath transfer student? Believe in and follow your delusions, which realistically seem like mental disorders, instead of hauling ass to the nearest doctor? I just don't know.

If you thought my description of the story was bad, and that has somehow not put you off of this series yet (unless you've already suffered like I've suffered, God bless your soul), then this should do the trick. Let's talk characters. There are 6 important (who am I kidding?), main characters in Glasslip. They are: Touko, Kakeru, Yukinari, Sachi, Yanagi, and Hiro. Like most dramas and slice of life shows, the main driving force behind the series are its characters. However, with Glasslip, the only thing that will be driving is you. Off the nearest cliff.

Touko is the main female lead of the series, who honestly seems like she's not all there mentally. Touko constantly spaces out, has little to no awareness of her surroundings, and easily has the lowest IQ out of all of her friends. Half her responses to trivial things is, "EHHHHH!?" and it reeks of such stupidity that it hurts my brain.

Kakeru, or "David", the emotionless transfer student, basically has no understanding of socially acceptable human interaction. Instead of easing his way into joining Touko's group of friends, like any normal person would, he acts like a condescending asshole. Big surprise! All of Touko's friends hate him. It doesn't help that he rarely says anything besides Touko this, Touko that, or it's my fault Touko feels sad. Want to get a restraining order filed on you? Follow Kakeru's detailed step-by-step examples.

Yukinari is an athletic guy that has some real apparent issues with catching hints and simply talking in general. He gets jealous easily, has a real douchebag attitude, and runs a lot. I think I could have gone to the store and bought a pair of Nikes — which would not have only been more enjoyable than Yukinari's character, but also more interesting — and gained more entertainment value. Nikes also won't complain or get angry about their running performance either, so that's another big plus.

Yanagi is an alright character, though still pretty bland and generic. She seems normal enough compared to the others, which isn't saying much, but also still has problems of her own. She's got the hots for her step-brother and is extremely quick to jump to his defense whenever someone even hints at what an imbecile he is. I swear Japan, something is wrong with you and your infatuation with brother-sister relationships.

I don't really understand how Sachi even became friends with the rest of the group. All she does is read books, for the most part. She rarely attends the group activities because she has some sort of unexplained illness and rarely says anything of value. Apparently nobody seems to care that she lies to them and tries to play little, deceitful games to get what she wants either. Solid 10/10 would befriend material.

Hiro, you still haven't figured out that Sachi is a lesbian? You poor bastard.

Out of all the characters in this entire show, there were only a handful that stood out when given their time to shine. They felt like realistic portrayals of what they would be like in real life, which was a big surprise to me. I feel like screen time was lost on all of the 'main' characters when these guys were pushed off to the side and ignored for the majority of the show. Here's some insight as to why they were so great:
☑ Character interaction: As realistic as it gets.
☑ Voice acting: Morgan Freeman-narrating-a-documentary-tier.
☑ Character design: Can't even tell they're 2D.
So, without further ado, let's give a big round of applause to Jonathan, Husserl, Confucius, Roger, and Makuzu, the school chickens.

The only positive thing I have to say about Glasslip is that the OST is decent. I like classical music and most of the OST consisted of it, at least from what I recall. The animation for this series felt pretty lacking in comparison to P.A. Work's last scenery porn project Nagi no Asukara. There was a frequent use of stills, which was strange to me. It's 2014, come on now. The studio barely did any notably good animation for this series. Just how low was the budget?

If you couldn't already tell, I did not enjoy Glasslip. On a positive note, Glasslip does do something right aside from the OST. It gives perspective on what a bad series is. Comparatively, you can now probably say "(insert series name here) was better than that piece of shit Glasslip!" and therefore adjust your ratings accordingly.

When I first heard that Man of Steel was referenced in an interview pertaining to Aldnoah.Zero, with Gen Urobuchi also playing a small part in the project, I had a general idea of what to expect from the series. I wasn't wrong. The high production values, high amounts of collateral damage, questionably bland characters, and a controversial ending are a close match to the recent DC Comic film about Superman. Mix in some grim thematics that Urobuchi is notorious for and we now have our new mecha tragedy series.

While the overall premise of Aldnoah.Zero is heavily based off of the tension and prejudice between ... the people of Earth and the Martians of Vers is easy to follow, there are many parts of the writing that qualitatively vary from good to bad. There are aspects that I enjoyed, such as Inaho actually using some tactics to outwit his opponents and smooth plot progression, but there were also very noticeable flaws. One of the biggest gripes I had with this series — though it may seem like nitpicking to some — was its historic timeline. In 1972, the Apollo 17 mission finds a hypergate to Mars on the surface of the moon. The astronauts discover Aldnoah, which grants them immense knowledge, technical prowess, and ability to colonize Mars. Soon after, many humans from Earth migrate to Mars and form the Empire of Vers. In the span of a couple decades the Vers Empire obtains and acts on their newfound feeling of superiority over Earth. The Vers Empire ignites a war and instigates heavy collateral damage to both themselves and Earth. It's as if Aldnoah gave the people of Vers technical savvy at the cost of brain damage. Considering that the martians came from Earth not too long ago themselves, and the first generation of immigrants are mostly still alive, their heavy prejudice comes off as confusing and highly implausible.

The characters of Aldnoah.Zero are extremely hit or miss. Inaho, a Japanese high school student, is one of the main characters of the series. Unfortunately, he also has the personality of a stone. For a majority of the series he's portrayed as intelligent, emotionless, calm, and collected. Allied forces, friends, and civilians getting killed right in front of his eyes? No problem, poker face. About to get killed during a battle with a superior Martian mech? No problem, poker face. He’s the stoic, but well-collected type of character, which people will either enjoy or despise. Despite being an offender of using this character archetype, it's hard to point the finger at Aldnoah.Zero specifically. Nearly all mecha anime are like this; you can never win. In any given mecha series you will either get a genius-level pilot that gets things done at the expense of personality or a useless, beta MC that relies solely on asspulls, a significantly stronger mech, and the power of friendship. Personally, I prefer the former.

As much as I'd like to discuss Slaine and Asseylum, since they are the other two major point of view characters, it would be difficult to do so without spoilers. In a broad sense, they're not bad characters. Asseylum is a bit generic, taking on the typical pure, benevolent princess role, while Slaine is basically the pinnacle of suffering and angst. At the very least, I can say that Slaine was interesting to watch.

While the rest of the cast aren't terrible, they also aren’t exactly a well-written bunch. Because there isn’t a lot of screen time allotted to them, most of the supporting cast are easily forgettable or just completely insignificant. The main antagonists of the series, the Orbital Knights of Vers, are originally perceived as extremely dangerous due to the power of Aldnoah and their vastly superior Cataphracts decimating the Earth armed forces opposition. Unfortunately, their glaring character faults begin to show upon entering combat with Inaho; they quickly turn into nothing more than a villain of the week plot device. Marito, who gets noticeably more screen time than other side characters, is haunted by his past and PTSD. Originally I thought the whole PTSD idea was interesting. You don’t see too many series touch upon the subject and relate its severity well. The problem with Marito and his PTSD is that it’s constantly shoved in your face on several occasions for little to no reason. It’d be one thing if Marito grew as a character and showed any signs of recovery, or usefulness for that matter, but there isn’t. His scenes in the second half of the series acted as nothing more than empty screen-time devoted to reminding the audience that Marito has been traumatized. That time spent focusing on Marito could have been much better utilized in fleshing out other characters who desperately needed depth. It’s disappointing that it wasn’t.

The biggest attribute that Aldnoah.Zero has going for it is the aforementioned production values. The series looks and sounds fantastic. I'm not a fan of CG, but even that is visually implemented very well. The OST of the series was surprisingly quite small, in comparison to nearly any other show. Most of the background music, despite sounding sublime, is reused often. The concept of having less tracks, but making them of higher quality is something I might like to see more often. It worked well in this case.

While the first season of Aldnoah.Zero was a fairly good watch overall, it seemed more like a setup for what’s to come in its second cour. We’ve been introduced to several characters and plot struggles, but nothing too substantial came about until the ending of the first season. It’s unclear what direction the series will go in, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Despite enjoying Kill la Kill, I didn't enjoy this special as much as I thought I would have. I'm not quite sure why I originally thought the special was going to be great and something worthwhile to anticipate, but somehow my eagerness and high expectations left me feeling a bit disappointed.

The story behind the special is a pretty average one. There's not much going for it, given that it's essentially an episode equivalent of filler that tries to throw a lot at you in a short period of time. Actually, that's exactly what this special is. While graduating Honnouji Academy was ultimately the main ... focus of this special, I felt that there wasn't as much closure as I would have liked, or rather, it wasn't handled in a very satisfying fashion; there was basically a sentence saying "-insert character name- is going to do this now." It felt half-assed and inadequate. I enjoy seeing the characters I've grown fond of reappear on the screen as much as the next person, but sometimes it just isn't enough to say that an OVA or special is actually good material. This realistically isn't. Regardless of this, the special is still very watchable. I recommend that you do watch it at some point if you enjoyed Kill la Kill, but there should be no feeling of urgency to do so.

In regards to characters, we’re able to see the same familiar faces of the series pop up once again. However, we also get a bit of development and fleshing out of Hououmaru, Rei, Kiryuuin Ragyou's secretary. In addition to that, we also are also shown a good level of maturity and growing up from the cast as a whole.

The art, animation, and sound align very similarly with the original airing series. The same feeling of wacky, over-the-top craziness still holds, which is one of the pivotal qualities the series regularly maintained. The OST from the series is used once again, which isn't a bad thing whatsoever, and it has fluid visuals. Everything looks and sounds just as great as one would expect.

While the special didn't meet my expectations, I did still enjoy the extra 25 minutes of material and its small bit of closure. A little extra something is certainly better than having nothing.