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Black Clover is a Japanese fantasy shounen manga series, which was written and illustrated by Yuuki Tabata. The series is published in Shueisha's Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in Japan, and Viz Media is publishing it in their Weekly Shonen Jump digital anthology magazine in the US. At the Black Clover Jump Festa event on December 18, 2016, an anime television series adaptation by Pierrot was announced. It is directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, with Kazuyuki Fudeyasu writing scripts, Itsuko Takeda doing character designs, and Minako Seki composing the music. The anime premiered on October 3, 2017.The series was initially listed as running for 13 episodes, ... but was later expanded to 51 episodes, which is one of the mistakes this review will center on, but later about it.

Asta, a kid living in poverty is determined to become the next Wizard King of his country. The problem is, in the world where magic is everything: it determines your position in society, Asta has absolutely no magic at all. However, his determination to become top 1 in the kingdom helps him get into the kingdom's elite defense forces, the Magic Knights. He, together with his brother, start their journey to become the most respected, as well as the kingdom’s most powerful man.

How one should assess a story-line that crawls with clichés and unoriginality? While it is not a bad thing, it is not a good thing either. Many anime series have done this before, but the problem here is that putting all these overused clichés together is a very difficult thing to pull, because you will have to get rid of these clichés and make your work original. There should always be something your viewers will remember you for. Black Clover, however, does have originality about its story-line, but it is not enough to call its story-line original. Those who are not new to the industry will have a ‘I have seen this already’ feeling, when watching Black Clover. And at some point it gets somewhat annoying, because you already know what is going to happen. Of course, it is not the only negative side this anime has, there are far too many, I would like to touch upon another thing, which ruined this series. As I have already mentioned in the first paragraph of my review, the series was initially listed as running for 13 episodes, but was later expanded to 51 episodes. This is the biggest mistake this anime has made: you are being shows far too many unnecessary details and nothing really happens. Black Clover has only enough material for 13 episodes. With 13 episodes it would not be that bad as it is right now.

For any anime that has magic as its main theme, I would hope for a simply flawless, charming animation that will make my heart stop beating for a second. Black Clover’s animation is sometimes fluid and dynamic, but it happens not as often as one would love to see. Indeed, the dark color schemes of the animation help promote the idea of the type of the world full of darkness and evil, and it is really awesome, however, character designs leave much to be desired. There is also nothing to comment on the sound. It does not have any memorable music pieces and voice acting is just… listen to Asta’s voice actor and you will know. It is like you want to relax and you constantly hear ‘Leeroooooy Jenkiiiins’, which drives you mad.

To my big disappointment there is nothing original about any character in this anime, even supporting characters are full of clichés. The main duo of this anime resembles Dragneel Natsu and Fullbuster Gray: their design, their ideals, their attitude towards each other, they are very similar. And not only do the main characters have clichés, but also the whole supporting character cast: there is absolutely nothing original about them. Imagine Dragneel Natsu constantly screaming with no reason, imagine Kamijou, Touma ability to nullify magic, and finally imagine Luffy, wanting to become the pirate king. Bingo, that is the whole concept of Black Clover.

Awful, what a disappointment! Even after 27 episodes this series is still bad. As it has already been mentioned many times in my review, there should have never been 51 episodes; this anime has enough material for 7-11 episodes. Okay, even 13 episodes will do. But, for some reason, the creator decided to make it 51 episodes. In result, most of the time you are being shown some absolutely pointless and unnecessary scenes, with jokes that are just dramatic because of the fact that they are absobloodylutely not funny. On top of that, this series is absolutely unoriginal; it has bloody nothing to offer its viewer. However, this anime is great for kids and for those who are totally fine with clichés and are able to literally ‘turn their consciousness off.’ This is a number one quality to watch and to finish this anime. I, alack, do not have it and I will have to give up on it after watching the 27th episode today.

All in all, I am sad to give this anime such a low overall score, but I have not found anything good, anything original about it that will help me appreciate this series, there is nothing good about it. If you want a good battle-shounen, Hunter x Hunter, One Piece, and Fullmetal Alchemist are ready to help you. Black Clover, however, is nothing but a guide on what you should not do to make a good battle-shounen.

Grade-
Overall (sub): 1
Story: 1
Animation: 5
Art: 6
Music: 5
Voice acting: 7
Enjoyment: 2

Overlord is a Japanese light novel series that was written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by so-bin. It began serialization online in 2010, before being acquired by Enterbrain. Twelve volumes have been published since July 30, 2012. A manga adaptation by Satoshi Oushio, with art by Hugin Miyama, began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Comp Ace from November 26, 2014. A 13-episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired between July 7 and September 29, 2015. The second season ran from January 9 to April 3, 2018. A third season is planned for July 2018.

Overlord is back. Now with 100% more lizard porn, a ... group of adamantine class adventurers, a band of highly-class bloodthirsty thieves controlling many people, and a yandere princess. For those who already know what Overlord is about, I must say that the new season has not changed at all. It again takes the series some episodes to start the whole thing: you will be shown, let us say, a filler that is not that entertaining to watch. More than that, it is so bad that it might make you want to drop the second season. Fear not, if you do hate the filler, just skip it. All the fun starts afterward.

Overlord did become much better because of its story-line and characters. Ainz Ooal Gown yet again continues his quest on becoming top class adamantine adventurer to collect enough information for Nazarick. Many things are still unexplained, but the second season also answers many questions that have not been answered in the first season. Character wise, many new characters have been introduced starting from the Nazarck servants and ending with many anti-heroes that have their interesting backgrounds for you to find out about. But this is, of course, not the best part about characters. What you will surely appreciate is the fact that many Nazarick’s servants receive a ton of development. Indeed, I am not going to go into details, but I will say only one thing--you will love it.

All in all, Overlord is still one of the most epic series about MMORPG games. The second season offers you a more detailed look at Nazarick’s servants and the enemies Ainz will have to face. I would highly recommend you start watching the anime right from the 6th episode; otherwise your opinion on Overlord might change because of it.

Created by Kore Yamazaki, The Ancient Magus’ Bride manga began serializing in 2013. Published in Monthly Comic Garden, as of September of 2017, the shounen series is currently up to 8 volumes. An anime television series adaptation was announced on March 10, 2017, and premiered on October 7, 2017 on MBS, Tokyo MX, BS11 and other Japanese channels. The anime has been nominated for multiple categories in the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2017, including Best Drama. The English dub of The Ancient Magus’ Bride anime is being handled by Funimation.

Chise Hatori is 15. She, for some reason, sees otherworldly creatures and acts as a magnet ... for them. Because of that, her life is ruined and even her closest relatives, as the only thing she can rely on, are disappearing one after another. Chise, being absolutely alone, even thinks about ending her life. However, instead of resorting to suicide, she meets a person that suggests her selling her life to someone who would take her in. And Chise does find a person that wants to buy her--Elias. After some time, the two are teleported to Elias’ home. Warm, quite and extremely cozy--that home is everything Chise has ever dreamed of. Now Chise becomes Elias’ apprentice, who is a very respected mage.

As a mage, Chise will now have to find out more about the world she is afraid of, about the world that ruined her life and took everything, which was important to her. If you have not seen the OVA first, which you should do before watching the TV series, it might seem that The Ancient Magus’ Bride is somewhat light hearted and has no dark themes whatsoever. And that would be a big mistake. The story-line does a great job explaining the viewer about the world of this series and there is hardly anything you will not understand. The best thing about it, which is worth mentioning, is the fact that it is never boring. When it becomes boring, it immediately shows you something disturbing, or something you would never imagine.

The anime preview did not lie, the artwork, as it should be in any series that focuses on magic, is absolutely stunning. The colors are vibrant, glowing, and clean. What is more, the anime takes place in many different places, as well as countries: you will see the beauty of Iceland, which is the most beautiful place on our planet, and then you will be shown some quite disturbing pictures like Joseph’s laboratory. The series does not focus only on the beautiful, it also shows you some very dark elements, which is something you might find enjoyable and it will probably help you enjoy the series even more.

Music wise, it is extremely charming and exciting. Every piece of music fits this series and helps you dive in the world of magic and many secrets that surround the world of The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Surprisingly, both the English and Japanese dubbed versions are equally good, which is quite a rare thing to see. Feel free to watch it in whatever language you want.

The titular characters Chise and Elias are an incredibly strange duo. Right from the very beginning we find out that Elias wants make Chise not only his disciple, but also his bride. And it makes it pretty much obvious that romance will also play a very important part in this series. However, The Ancient Magus’ Bride approach to this genre is somewhat different from what you have seen in other anime. It is quite a challenge to describe their relations: I guess both of them are somewhat afraid of each other, they are afraid of making a mistake that might ruin their relations. And because of that there is actually no romance in this anime. Anyways, both Chise and Elias receive equal character developments and they both are very interesting to follow.

Enjoyments wise, The Ancient Magus’ Bride is quite a surprise. It does have a slow start and there is nothing unique about it. However, with every episode the series becomes more and more interesting: more characters are being introduced and you understand more about the series. And I must say this show is very enjoyable to watch.

Overall, it is worth watching – give it a shot! This anime feels like you are watching a fairy tale, which is sometimes very dark. The Ancient Magus’ Bride is touching, beautiful, and dark. It is definitely a show many anime fans will highly appreciate.

Grade:
Overall (sub): 10
Overall (dub): 10
Story: 9
Animation: 9
Art: 9
Music: 10
Voice acting: 10
Enjoyment: 10

--Additional information--
Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed, Shigofumi: Stories of Last Letter, or simply Shigofumi is a Japanese anime television series, which was created by Tomorou Yuzawa and produced by Bandai Visual and Genco. It aired in Japan on Chiba TV and other networks between January 6 and March 22, 2008 and contains twelve episodes. An original video animation episode was included with the final anime DVD volume released on September 26, 2008. A light novel series was originally adapted from the anime's premise set by Tomorou Yuzawa, featuring story composition and illustrations by Ryou Amamiya and Poko, respectively. Four novels were published by MediaWorks under ... their Dengeki Bunko imprint between October 2006 and March 2008. Despite the novels being produced first, the anime is considered the original work, as stated by Yuzawa. The anime has been acquired by Bandai Visual for English language localization. The title Shigofumi comes from the combination of the Japanese words for ‘after death’ (shigo), and ‘letter’ (fumi), which literally translates to an ‘after death letter’.

--Synopsis--
Shigofumi are letters from the dead. Those who are dead and still have unfinished business can send an after death letter; yet, not any dead person is allowed to do so.

These letters are delivered by the supernatural mail carriers, who once, just like their recipients, were humans. They now do not age and cannot be killed. Fumika, the main heroine of the series, is, perhaps, the most competent mail carrier, and sometimes it seems like nothing can disturb her work, even a troublesome recipient. However, unlike her colleagues, Fumika, for some reason, continues to age.

Moreover, on one of the Fumika’s delivery missions, she meets a high school student, who knows her. It appears that in addition to the fact that Fumika is now an entity no human can comprehend, she has many mysteries behind her persona that are, little by little, discovered by Fumika and her closest friends.

--Story-line--
Shigofumi is an anime that every person will see differently. It does have quite a normal start that will probably make you think that it is just your usual slice of life. However, after some time, the most interesting part begins, and you realize that everything is not that easy as it might seem. The series shows you that it is not a moe SoL with female mail carriers, it shows you that Shigofumi is actually a very dramatic story that also has many mysterious elements. The story of Shigofumi touches upon many different topics, including: bullying, teen suicide, child abuse, mental illnesses, and different ugly parts of our society.

Of course, the dark side of Shigofumi is not the best thing about it. Although, I have to say that the series is not trying to be dark all the time: sometimes it tries to show that there is still hope, proving that there are still good people. That being said, the story is so disturbing that some people might not appreciate it. On top of that, there are also some logical mistakes in it. By the way, it is also worth mentioning that the story does not just immediately give you all the answers you are looking for. In most cases, you will have to build your own theories to better understand what Shigofumi truly is.

If it is not that big of a deal, Shigofumi is worth it. As it has been stated before, this series shows a very realistic picture that depicts how flawed our society is. Its story-line does look like a mix of Kino’s Journey and Hell Girl, but it still is something you will never see in other anime. Think for a second, if someone truly has a pure soul and some unfinished business, that person can write a letter to their relatives to ease their sufferings. This idea has never been touched upon in any other anime series before. This fact might help you appreciate the story-line.

--Art--
The animation for Shigofumi is fine. Character and background designs are pretty good, but nothing amazing. Definitely not the best animation I have seen, but it was okay.

--Music/Voice acting--
Not only the music, but also voice acting in Shigofumi are simply breathtaking. The OST was composed by Masumi Itou, who is also known as Nanase Hikaru. Masumi Itou is a Japanese singer and composer from Ibaraki prefecture in Japan. She has composed the soundtracks to many anime television shows and is part of the bands ‘Oranges & Lemons’ and ‘Heart of Air.’ Thanks to her, Shigofumi is sometimes really dark and disturbing. In addition to this, Ali Project and Snow also made amazing OP and ED themes for this anime.

--Characters--
There is only one character that matters, Fumika. Everybody else in this series is supporting cast, or only relevant in his/her episode. As it has been mentioned before, Fumika is a mail carrier that delivers shigofumi. All of the mail carriers are dead and no longer age. However, Fumika, for some reason, continues to age. This is all the viewer knows. As for the supporting cast, that is the main problem of this series. Although, it is not horrible, some supporting characters are just not as interesting as the others. Also, another thing, which might annoy you, is magic staffs. All mail carriers have mahou-shoujo-like magic staffs that are annoying as hell and are the only companions mail carriers have. To be perfectly honest with you, they should not have used these magic staffs in the series. But, well, I guess Japan is weird, so it is okay.

--Enjoyment/criticism--
Shigofumi is a very enjoyable show. The only two flaws this anime has are: insufficient character development and the fact that this anime should not have used these magic staffs. But, at the same time, these flaws are too trivial to criticize Shigofumi for. Shigofumi could have become a masterpiece with a better character development and without these magic staffs.

--Overall--
Shigofumi is definitely a show that needs more appreciation. While it is not flawless, it has many unique elements no anime has ever used before. It also features a lot of strong writing and shows the viewer the ugly part of our society, hinting that there are still good individuals, who are the only reason our society still exists.

--Grade--
Overall (sub): 8
Story: 9
Animation: 7
Art: 8
Music: 10
Voice acting: 9
Enjoyment: 9

13th episode
Warning: the following review contains spoilers from the previous 12 episodes of Shigofumi. The 13th episode answers to many questions that have not been touched upon in the previous 12 episodes.

As you know, the fate of Kikugawa’s bullies has not been explained yet. And this episode will be devoted to it. Will they be punished for what they did to Kikugawa?

Overall, the 13th episode concludes the story of Shigofumi and does it pretty well. Do watch it, it is a direct continuation to the main story.

--Grade--
Overall (sub): 8
Story: 9
... Animation: 7
Art: 8
Music: 10
Voice acting: 9
Enjoyment: 9

--Additional information--
Haibane Renmei (Charcoal Feather Federation) is a 13-episode anime series based on the work of Yoshitoshi Abe (Serial Experiments Lain, NieA Under 7). It began as an original doujinshi comic series, The Haibanes of Old Home, but this was quickly superseded by the anime and was never completed. The anime series was broadcast by Animax on its respective networks around the world, including its English networks in Southeast Asia under the French title Ailes Grises (Grey Wings).

--Synopsis--
A girl with no name falls from the sky and finds herself in a very mysterious land, where nobody remembers of his or her previous life. In this ... land, angel-like beings, ash wings, have formed a society and live in harmony with the people of the town, helping them out.

Later on, the girl gets a name--Rakka--grows a pair of wings and receives her own halo. Rakka is now an ash wing too.

While the new place seems to be like heaven for Rakka, she soon finds out that everything is not as easy as it might seem. Why did Rakka become an ash wing, and what is the mystery behind her new home?

--Story-line--
As it has been stated before, Haibane Renmei is based on a doujinshi of the king of abstractness and implication, Yoshitoshi ABe. Just like in Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei is a show full of mysteries that will drag you in its world full of questions. And by questions I mean a great deal of questions: there will be time, when you might think that you finally have the answer, but the series will only give you more questions. On top of that, another thing worth mentioning is the fact that this series has a very slow-pacing, which might make the wait for the answers a total nightmare. However, this nightmare will end when you collect the first puzzle piece. The most enjoyable part about Haibane Renmei is, indeed, the fact that you are rewarded for your patience.

With that being said, Haibane Renmei’s highly mature and well-developed story-line can only be appreciated by adults. For those who are looking for a more traditional approach in anime, I would highly recommend to avoid Haibane Renmei. But if it does not scare you, let us continue.

--Art--
The art and animation are very well done, mostly. It is an open secret that Haibane Renmei is an anime from 2002. And it means that there will be no ‘wow’ moments whatsoever. However, at the same time, the series still manages to amaze the viewer with the attention it pays to every small detail, starting from character designs and ending with stunning backgrounds.

--Music/Voice acting--
The OST for Haibane Renmei was composed by the acknowledged maestro of music Kow Otani. Even if that name does not ring the bell, Outani Kou is a Japanese music composer, who is best known for creating the soundtracks for the Heisei Gamera trilogy, Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, and Shadow of the Colossus, and for many anime series too. What he wrote for Haibane Renmei is nearly impossible to describe using words. The genius of music is able to make you not only relax, but also make you feel nervous. It is difficult to admit, but without his contribution to this series, Haibane Renmei would never have been that amazing. As for the voice acting, this series is marvelous in both English and Japanese. It is quite a challenge to find English female voice actresses with unique voices. Haibane Renmei, however, has simply an amazing English dub that is very difficult to find.

--Characters--
There are two protagonists in this series. While Reki does not get as much screen-time as Rakka, she still has a very important role in this series that will be fully discovered in the final episode. Anyways, the viewer discovers the world of Haibane Renmei via Rakka. She explores the unknown land, meets many people-- including fellow haibane-- and tries to find the answer on the main questions of this series. She is a very easy-going person that is always ready to help. Reki is the second protagonist of the series. She is like a mother to the young haibane and also an extremely important person to the story-line.

Surprisingly, supporting characters, also receive enough screen time. The supporting cast is quite huge, but the viewer can equally enjoy stories of every character and that is really amazing. For a 13 episode anime, Haibane Renmei does manage to show the viewer enough character development for all characters, which is quite rare to see in other series.

--Enjoyment/criticism--
I have seen this anime more than 4 times already and it has never been boring. While this anime will get more appreciation among adults, you can still watch it. However, you will have to be very patient, as well, as you will have to be very attentive and always ready to think and analyze. And believe me, you will have to think a lot. Haibane Renmei will not give you all the answers, in most cases, you will have to analyze many situations. Indeed, it might be tedious sometimes. However, as the series progresses, you will only understand more about Haibane Renmei and it will not be boring anymore; you will like it, I promise you.

--Overall--
All in all, Haibane Renmei is one of these rare gems you will never find again. This is the best work of Abe Yoshitoshi that all SoL fans will surely appreciate. Even if you are not one, you will not feel bored watching this series, because when the drama kicks in, Haibane Renmei will take you on a journey to a faraway place that has many secrets for you to discover. This is the journey that you will never forget.

--Grade--
Overall (dub): 10
Overall (sub): 10
Story: 10
Animation: 10
Art: 9
Music: 10
Voice acting: 10
Enjoyment: 10

Appleseed Alpha, or Appleseed α is a computer-animated military science fiction cyberpunk movie. It had an advance digital release on July 15, 2014. The movie is set in different series of events, so you will not have to watch alternative versions of it, which aired a long time ago, only to understand it.

Appleseed Alpha focuses on the early days of Deunan Knute and Briareos in the 22nd century, as they start their journey throughout the ruins of New York in search of the mysterious city called Olympus. Deunan Knute and Briareos are hired by criminals to help them deal with the robots that seem ... to hinder them a lot. On one of these missions, our duo encounters Iris and Olson, who are on a mission, too. It is later revealed that Iris and Olson’s mission is somehow connected with what Deunan and Briareos are looking for.

Appleseed Alpha’s weakest part is, of course, its story-line. One can write a novel simply by listing things that the story-line of Appleseed Alpha does not explain. And believe me, there are many aspects this movie does not touch upon. Indeed, it has one of the worst story-lines you will ever find, but the good thing is that you will not have to watch prequels, read manga, or look for some additional information only to understand it. No. Appleseed Alpha relies only on a) animation and b) soundtrack.

All in all, I would not argue that this movie has, perhaps, the most stunning animation I have ever seen in my life and that its soundtrack is amazing, too. But a better story-line is something this movie does not have. Of course, if animation is the only criterion you care about, you should definitely watch this movie. If not, do avoid it.

By the way, this movie has superb English dubs.

--Additional information--
The King's Avatar (Quan Zhi Gao Shou, Full-Time Expert, Master of Skills) is a Chinese web novel, which centers on eSports. Witten by Butterfly Blue, the novel was published on Qidian Zhongwen Wang website between February 28, 2011 and April 30, 2014. It also received the title ‘Best Work’ in 2013. Another fact worth mentioning is that there are 1728 chapters in the novel.

--Story-line--
The King's Avatar tells the viewer a story of Ye Xiu, who is a professional player in the online MMORPG game called ‘Glory.’ Glory is a well-balanced game, where the only thing that really matters is the players’ skill; the game ... offers fighting against both other players and NPC enemies. Ye Xiu, also known as the ‘Battle God,’ is the player that every Glory player knows about, he is a legend, an idol; many people will do everything only to shake his hand. However, when you reach great heights, there will surely be people, who will do everything, even sell their soul to the Devil, only to see you fall. And Ye Xiu life is not an exception. Ye Xiu’s friends, colleague, and teammates make him give up on his career as one of the most successful competitive player of Glory.

Ye Xiu now has neither his team, nor the sponsor, nor his life’s goal. He finds work at nearby café, where many staff members admire Ye Xiu, but no one really knows his true identity. After a little while, Glory opens its 10 server, and Ye Xiu decides one more time to throw himself into the game. He now has to make a new character and form a new team. Together with his new friends, Ye Xiu one more time decides to dedicate himself to the game in order to become top one Glory player and return his title of ‘the best.’

It is very surprising that no anime has ever dared to make an eSports series. However, we do have more than enough these ‘…and he realizes that he cannot log out anymore’ anime. While some titles are still able to make this kind of setting interesting, many simply cannot do that and ruin themselves with fan service and other overused cliché. That being said, the eSports aspect makes this series unique. But it is, of course, not the only positive side of this series; the anime’s story-line is able to provide the viewer with enough information about the protagonist of the series—Ye Xiu and it manages to do it that it is never boring for the viewer.

--Art/sound--
This anime has some awesome animation: all characters look different, all characters have a very unique and beautiful design, action scenes are simply mind-blowing, as well as the attention to every detail this series pays. Sound wise, if you have never seen a group of Chinese tourists, discussing some stuff in Chinese, which is simply impossible, to be honest, it might take you some time to get used to The King's Avatar. But when you do, you will understand that the Chinese voice actors did a pretty impressive job voicing their characters: they made it possible for the viewer to understand the emotions of their characters.

--Characters--
The main character cast consists of 4 characters. There are also many supporting characters, who also play a very important role in the story-line. The first main character is Xiu Ye. He is a carte de visite of Glory: he knows almost everything about the game, perhaps, even everything, he wrote many guides, and invented many playstyles. Although, he faces many difficulties, he never loses temper; he is always calm and thinks three steps ahead.

I am not going to describe you the rest of the cast, otherwise I will have to include spoilers, which I am not going to do. All I can say is that all characters are very interesting to follow. Be it a good guy, or be it a bad guy, they receive enough development and it is perfectly clear what they are trying to achieve. Also, as it has been already mentioned before, Chinese voice actors did one hell of a job voicing their characters, which did help the viewer to better understand the emotions and motives of their characters.

--Criticism--
It is an open secret that China is now trying to transform its domestic industry into a global producer of animation. There is even a foreign film quota, which only allows 34 foreign films, both live-action and animation, per year to be screened in China. Anyways, what I am trying to say is that I am perfectly fine with China making its stuff. Anime is becoming more and more average and because of that there should be more people with brand new ideas (like eSports in Quan Zhi Gao Shou.)

I also want to make one thing clear: the source material of this anime is a novel that contains 1728 chapters. And because of that, the anime is sometimes too fast paced and for those who have not read the web novel, some things might remain unexplained. And this is the only problem this anime has. However, they might be explained in the second season, or in whatever they make next, so time will tell.

--Overall--
All in all, this anime deserves 8/10. I would definitely suggest it to all the eSports and even to the non-eSports fans to watch this anime. There might be some things only people playing online games and following eSports tournaments will understand, but it should not be a problem for you. Quan Zhi Gao Shou is a great anime that does focus on the MMORPG elements, but, at the same time, it takes a brand new route that no anime has ever chosen before and I must say it does it pretty damn good. Hopefully, there will be season 2, a movie, or something like a continuation, because this series has some awesome source material.

Good job, China; you impressed me with this one.

--Additional information--
Knights of Sidonia, or Sidonia no Kishi is a mecha manga series by Tsutomu Nihei (Blame, Biomega), which was serialized by Kodansha in ‘Afternoon’ between April 2009 and September 2015. The manga is localized in English by ‘Vertical.’ An anime television series adaptation, produced by Polygon Pictures, aired between April and June 2014 and a second season aired between April and June 2015. An anime television series adaptation, produced by Polygon Pictures, premiered on April 10, 2014 and ended its first season on June 26, 2014, on MBS and later on TBS, CBC and BS-TBS. The series was directed by Kobun Shizuno, assisted by ... Hiroyuki Seshita, with scripts by Sadayuki Murai and character designs by Yuki Moriyama. The series has also been localized and streamed by Netflix in all of its territories since July 4, 2014, becoming the service's first original anime, as well as the first anime series on Netflix available in Dolby Vision/HDR. The first season has been licensed for home video release by Sentai Filmworks.

--Story-line--
The future is not favorable for humans anymore: our planet is no longer there, world population has decreased dramatically because of the gauna invasion, and there is a chance that humans can be completely annihilated. However, humans are known for their ability to adapt and this time they will not give up that easily. Many seed ships are being created, which are later sent in different parts of space and are designed to be the last stronghold of the human race. Although, seed ships do have weaponry, they use robots called gardes, or guardians to protect the main ship from any possible threat that might occur.

Not much is known about seed ships now, because the distance between them is so great (150 something light years) that it takes more than 100 years only for one message to be delivered. In this lovely setting, Knight of Sidonia tells the viewer a story of Sidonia, which is one of these seed ships. Sidonia has its own guardian Saitou Hiroki, who is a guardian’s pilot and Sidonia’s top 1 ace. However, one day, due to some circumstances, Hiroki refuses to take medicine anymore, which increases the life of any human, helping them to never age; he takes his grandson with him and hides from the people of Sidonia.

Eventually, Hiroki dies and it forces his grandson to the surface. One of the Sidonia’s leaders immediately understands that Nagate is the only grandson of one of the greatest ace pilots Sidonia has ever had and that his grandson is believed to be as skilled as his grandad and sends him on a mission. Right on his very first mission, Tanikaze faces the main foe of humanity that has not attacked Sidonia for a long while—gauna.

While Sidonia Knights’ story-line does contain some cliché mecha elements that you surely know about, it has one of the richest story-lines you will ever see in anime: an absolutely new setting, it contains many sci-fi elements, and it is just able to keep you in the never ending suspension, leaving you absolutely no time for breath; you simply have no time to think, because you do not know what to expect from this series. By the way, there are two seasoning now and the third season is underway, which means that there will be even more new details.

--Note--
Gauna are an alien lifeform that destroyed planet earth. The light-year is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances. It is about 9.5 trillion kilometers, or 5.9 trillion miles.

--Art/Sound--
Knight of Sidonia has some awesome CG, which help to keep action scenes flashy and mind-blowing. You can find Knights of Sidonia’s opening on youtube and you will get the idea how it is going to look like. Anyways, the animation manages to reflect that dark setting perfectly well, it also manages to keep the action scenes amazingly interesting to watch. However, my only problem with that is that while all character designs do look decent, I would have loved to see a better emotion portrayal for characters. Yet, it is not an anime about cute boys and girls doing cute things; the animation is good. Sound wise, Japanese dubbed version does a much better job than the English one. Sidonia no Kishi, as any mecha anime, has simply amazing OST, which was composed by Asakura Noriyuki, who also wrote the music for Rurouni Kenshin and Major. The opening theme ‘sidonia’ is performed by a Japanese pop band angela, which full version you should definitely check on youtube. They are notable for having their music portrayed as theme songs for several anime television shows. The band members are Atsuko(vocals) and Katsu(keyboard). Their signature upbeat tunes and rich arrangements combine elements of electronica, dance, rock, swing jazz and ska. The ending theme ‘show’ is performed by Eri Kitamura, who prefers j-rock, symphonic rock, symphonic metal, and pop rock. That said, Sidonia did surprise me with its opening and ending themes choice. The opening song sounds like a hymn to the last stronghold of humanity—seed ships, when the ending theme somewhat keeps you in suspension, making you want to watch the next episode as soon as possible; they both fit the anime well.

--Characters--
Knights of Sidonia has a very rich cast. Every character has its purpose in the series, they have their motives and aims they are trying to pursue. Although, it might take you some time to get used to these rather unusual characters that this anime has, since as it has been already been stated before, the main genre of this anime is sci-fi, so there will be many weird things. But even with that, all main and supporting characters are equally good. P.S. Do not mind the bear lady; Japan is a weird place.

--Criticism (does not contain spoilers)--
Of course, this anime is not perfect, or flawless; nothing is. But I guarantee you that this series has more positive than negative sides. I cannot even call them serious flaws, they are just too minor for me to criticize. That said, Sidonia no Kishi, just like Evangelion, has the right to be called iconic mecha anime. It has a brand-new setting, as well as many elements, which have never been touched upon in any other sci-fi, or mecha anime.

--Overall--
All in all, I give this anime a very weak 10/10. Even if you are not a fan of mecha, think of this series as a sci-fi series, which involves robots. Robots, as well as robot fights, are not the main focus of this anime. However, I have to say that this anime series has quite a bit of female nudity, along with some graphic violence, which makes it something that is not for kids. But do not be afraid, it does not have any unnecessary fanservice at all!

One of the most innovative sci-fi series you will ever see!

Kamisama Hajimemashita, or Kamisama Kiss is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki and serialized by Hakusensha in the shoujo manga magazine called ‘Hana to Yume.’ An anime television series adaptation of Kamisama Kiss was produced by ‘TMS Entertainment’ and directed by Akitaro Daichi (Fruits Basket, Kaleido Star). It began airing on October 1, 2012. There are also two OVA episodes, which first aired on August 26, 2013, bundled with the 16th volume of the manga. One of the included episodes is based on the story from the 15th volume, while the other contains an all-new original story. The 17th issue of ... Hakusensha's Hana to Yume magazine announced on August 2014 that the manga series inspired a second anime season, which began airing on January 5, 2015.

Momozono Nanami is only 17 years old, but she has never felt lucky. She has quite an average academic progress and boys do not think that she is cute. She would love to fix her school problems and spare more time for the girls’ stuff, but she cannot do that, since her father is a big gambler, who always causes her daughter a ton of problems. Too bad, but her misfortune only continues: she is evicted from her apartment, because of her father’s debts. However, Nanami does not curse her misfortune. One day, she saves a good-looking young man in a park from a huge phobia he has; he is afraid of dogs. After a small talk, the young man listens to Nanami’s problems and offers her to live at his place, which he abandoned 20 years ago. In addition to this, he also kisses her on the forehead to express his gratitude. It turns out that Nanami is invited to live in a God’s shrine and that the young man that kissed her actually passed her the mark of the area’s deity. The unfortunate girl is no longer unfortunate, but her life has not gotten any easier, too. She now should take care of her academic progress, as well as of her deity’s duties. Kamisama Kiss Season 2 focuses more on Tomoe’s backstory and also continues the story of Momozono Nanami. This time Nanami will have to see other gods and undertake many challenges.

Story wise, Kamikiss is still great. Many characters are being introduced, as well as their backstories. They all receive the needed character development and there is nothing I can criticize. Animation wise, it has become even better than season 1. However, one major and, perhaps, the only negative side of this anime is the fact that there is no continuation. No information on a possible season 3 has been published so far, and it has been almost 3 years already. So to make a long story short, if you are not a fan of manga, I would not recommend you to watch this anime, because most likely, there will never be season three. But I do not know for sure; no one does. That is why I want to make one thing clear: it is still a great romance story, I would even say ‘one of the best romance stories.’ And you can still find out about the ending by reading the manga adaption, which is even BETTER than the anime adaption of Kamisama Hajimemashita. If you are a fan of reading, Kamikiss is what you are looking for!

Overall, not as breathtaking as season 1, but it is still is one of the greatest romance stories you will probably find.