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Belonging to a Muslim family my bedtime stories consisted of the adventures of Sinbad, Ali Baba and Aladdin. We had a copy of the children’s version of 1001 nights at home and me and my brother would hang on every word as our mother would read them to us. When I grew older I watched all the movies and series based on these stories (e.g The Theif of Baghdad – a must watch if you like the Arabian Nights)

So when I came across this movie by Tezuka, Osamu I was ecstatic.

Let me explain the story a little. Senya Ichiya Monogatari (SIM) tells the tale of ... Aladdin as he ventures into Baghdad as a water seller and falls in love with a slave girl. The girl is being sold in the market place and Aladdin, who fell in love with her at first sight, taking advantage of a sandstorm takes off with the girl and that is where our tale begins. I won’t dispense too many details here, because its very entertaining to watch the story unfold. Since the original 1001 nights is so vast the writers have chosen and used some elements of the different popular tales and infused them in telling the tale of Aladdin (like the bandits cave, the flying toy horse and the flying carpet). I loved seeing all the different elements come together to create a completely new tale of love, hate, power and insanity.

The characters are very entertaining to watch. There is just the right amount of comic relief in the dialogues and there are also scenes that will bring tears to your eyes. A few scenes sent a chill up my spine too but they were just as entertaining. By the end of the movie I felt that I had actually gone through a long journey because the time span covered in SIM is that of years but it doesn’t feel rushed at all.

The animation is old but surprisingly it complements the story very well adding to the majestic atmosphere. The scenes are very vivid and the imagery is very powerful. (I wouldn’t watch this after doing drugs :p)
Overall I loved SMI. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the Arabian Nights tales as a child and its motivated me to buy the 1001 nights compilation translated by Malcolm C. Lyons and Ursula Lyons.

When the first images of the Aku no Hana anime came out there was a lot of talk about how awful the characters looked and how disappointed people were with the animators decision to use rotoscoping. The manga was pretty popular with its unique story and very human characters, so readers were avidly looking forward to its animation.

I was one of these people who judged the show on its animation without actually watching it and so pushed it way down on my to-watch list.
Finally I got around to watching it and all my complaints were completely wiped out. I fell in love with the story ... telling style. In my anime watching years I havnt seen an anime so true to its manga. Each shot is so close to the way it was drawn in the manga (Unfortunately this put restrictions on how much of the chapters could be covered in the episodes). Aku no Hana really made me appreciate the depth rotoscoping can give to a story. (In case you don’t know rotoscoping involves recording scenes in live action and then having animators draw over each footage frame by frame. I think its amazing!)

Aku no Hana’s story is very unique. For years movies and books have told stories about adolescence. About how our innocence is snatched away and we finally begin to see the world as it truly is. Raw and corrupted. Aku no Hana attempts to tell the story of a boy, Kasuga, who has a very poetic and romantic view about life. But his ideals are shattered as he gets involved in a spiral of events triggered by his confrontation with the black sheep of his class, Sawa Nakamura. Sawa makes it her duty to tear away the last shreds of innocence kasuga has and reveals to him his own perversion and the grim realities of their small town and existence.

The story is kind of heavy but the way it is told is simply remarkable. I loved every moment of watching this show. I got used to the animation pretty quickly and at times even thought that the girls looked pretty cute. The animation style truly complements the subject of the anime and actually makes the scenes more powerful.

The soundtrack is amazing. I don’t know if everyone would agree with me here but I fell in love with the track list of Aku no Hana. The openings and endings help carry through the eerie feeling of the plot and especially one scene in the anime just took my breath away. I think I just sat there with my mouth open for a good 20 minutes when I saw the “wrecking the classroom” scene. The track in that scene was Hana – A Last Flower which was used brilliantly, its very hard to explain so you need to see it to know what I mean.
My only complaint was that there weren’t enough episodes! I wanted more! Im really hoping and praying that this series gets more season because the story covered in the anime was just the tip of the ice berg (Check out the manga).

Aku no Hana breaks away from the typical high school animes that come out one after another with its story and style of animation. It’s a must watch and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Tari Tari had a lot of potential with its plot and character background stories. The first few episodes were kind of slow if we look at the character development but helped set the premise of the story (Forming the choir club blah blah blah…). Then Tari Tari surprised me as it delved into one of the character’s back story and I think that part was very well executed. I was eager to see how the rest of the characters stories would go. ALAS. They did not go well at all in my opinion. Im guessing the 13 episodes limit on the series ruined ... it. However I felt that maybe the creators should have chosen some of the stronger stories and only concentrated on those for the season instead of touching lightly on all of them and thus loosing on forming a deeper connection with the audience. The way the series has been made makes me feel like it just rushed through everything and left me wondering at times what the real issue was in some of the characters’ story.

But I wouldn’t say that watching this was a complete waste of time. The animation is great with nicely detailed surroundings and well drawn characters. Tari Tari is about music so expect a lot of singing in the show. Some of the songs are good and leave you feeling warm.

Overall I think Tari Tari is an anime that you can watch if you just want a short series thats light on the feels. However I wouldnt keep it on the top of my to-watch list.

This is a combined review of Clannad and Clannad:After Story since I think one is incomplete without the other.

I had read about Clannad on forums but unfortunately some memes gave away some spoilers so I considered delaying watching it a bit. However due to the incessant pushing of a fellow otaku (god bless him) I decided to give my time to the show and finally see what everyone is talking about.

Oh boy am I glad I did that. Reading the description given above one might think oh damn not another harem, romance anime. But I assure you Clannad is nothing like your average romance ... harem anime.

Clannad took character development to a whole new level. The show follows a pattern where each arc is about one character and how Tomoya (our protagonist), at times along with Nagisa the leading lady, helps that character out. This pattern has been used many times in animes but it has been implemented very differently in Clannad. Each arc may take up to 3- 4 episodes I think. The way each story is told and unfolded and then nice wrapped by the end of the arc is just brilliant. Each arc holds you in place and takes you through a mirage of emotions where you laugh like a crazy person or cry your heart out.

The artwork is really good and changes in background color are used as a technique to convey the feelings of characters or the general mood that the audience is meant to feel.

The characters are wonderful and make you wish you knew them in real life. Each character goes through a lot of growth throughout the show which is not an easy task but the writers and director have accomplished this beautifully.

I loved all the characters but my favorite has to be Tomoya. Usually anime makers follow certain rules when creating the protagonist of their story. They are usually meek, shy and then all of a sudden they meet a girl and make loads of friends and all the girls fall in love with them and ugh I cant go on but you get my drift. Anyway Tomoya is nothing like that. He may be one of the most realistic characters I have come across in my anime watching years. His character develops the most in the show and is a treat to watch.

The English dub is fantastic with a top notch script that leaves your stomach in knots or at times melts your heart. The music is very powerful and used in a brilliant way and gently pulls at your heartstrings. It adds just the right touch to the scenes and makes the audience feel exactly what the creators want at that moment.

After finishing the two seasons I realized that I might not be able to find such a complete anime series ever again and that makes me sad. Well I guess its time to re-watch the series!!

First of all School Days is not what it seems. After finishing school days I felt like I needed months of therapy and bucket loads of anti-depressants. If you had a cheating spouse or have just gone through a bad break up and have a lot of pent up hateful feelings towards your ex this is the anime for you my friends.

This series has some of the worst characters in the history of anime. There was not one character I could sympathize with. The first few episodes were not so bad. Actually the story developed pretty well and held my interest. But then it ... was like the writers just lost their minds or had a nervous breakdown and just wanted to mentally scar the audience for the rest of their lives.

School Days starts off as a romance anime which has the potential to develop into a typical love triangle story but then becomes something completely mutated and distorted. I wouldn't even call it a psychological anime because other than the fact that it leaves you mentally disturbed after the last episode there is not much depth in the story or psyche of the characters. The characters just seem to do things senselessly without any good reason and it all just seemed devoid of any passion or motive to me.

It is nonetheless quite a disturbing anime so I would recommend a marathon of romantic comedy anime after you finish School Days.

Steins Gate deserves every bit of the praise the series has gotten since it aired 3 years ago. In my opinion there is no anime that compares to the series. I have been a big fan of time travel stories since Back to the Future (The best time travel trilogy in my opinion) but I went into this anime thinking it would be just another harem comedy with a bit of sci-fi mixed in. I was pleasantly surprised.

Time travel stories usually leave a lot of holes in explanations leaving the audience dissatisfied. However Steins Gate is one time travel story that has all its ... bases covered. The story is based on the true events of the internet meme John Titor who claimed to be from the future and who was looking for the IBM 500 in order to save humanity’s future (google it). When I learned about this fact I was even more impressed with the writers for developing such an interesting plot from a joke someone played on the web. Another thing I liked about the series is that there are three types of time travel. Firstly the D-mail that can be used to shift between world lines, the second Makise’s time machine which can be used to travel back into time in one world line and last but not the least the time machine from the future that physically transfers people. All this is explained very well in the anime so don’t worry if it all seems confusing right now.

The characters are truly jems of the anime world. I fell in love with each member of the “Future Gadget Lab” instantly. I had expected the main character to be your typical anime hero, a loser who realizes his potential due to a bizarre event that changes his perspective on life. However I found Okabe Rintarou or Hououin Kyouma as he refers to himself to be the complete opposite of what I had expected. Firstly Okabe stands by what he believes from the first episode to the last. He claims to be a mad scientist and a mad scientist he proves himself to be. Completely disregarding the consequences of his actions to quench his thirst for creating a successful time-machine he continues to develop the D-mail and later the time machine with the help of genius Makise Kurisu and his college buddy Hashida Itaru.

Makise Kurisu is the perfect counterpart for our mad scientist. Her thirst for achieving success and curiosity about the time machine make her stay at the lab and it is only through her help that Okabe is able to undo his mistakes. Itaru or Daru as he is called by everyone provides some perverted humor but is also a likable character. One of the most loved characters of the anime has to be Shiina, Mayuri our protagonist’s childhood friend. Just a few episodes in and you will be Tuturuuing with her. She also acts as a sort of anchor for the other three whose goals can sometimes blind them to the realities of their actions. The other supporting actors are just as enjoyable and each has a purpose in the story.

The main genre for this anime is obviously sci-fi but the series has equal amounts of humor and some romance that develops later on in the series. The artwork is done well in my opinion the visual effects complement the story wonderfully. I would recommend that you watch this anime with the english dub. The dub script is simply wonderful and the exchanges between Okabe and Kurisu are very entertaining and hilarious.

I have seen this anime eight times till now and have to say I enjoy it more every time I re-watch it. I am sure you will not regret giving your time to this series and will enjoy it as much as I did.