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Psycho-Pass is directed by Urobochi Gen, so if you don't like dark things, stop reading this now.

Now that that's out of the way, I feel very confident in saying that this anime is easily Gen's best. Madoka Magica was incredible, and so was Fate/Zero, but Gen's full abilities can be seen in his vibrant art style, and this series reflects that the best. Dark and gritty with a half-Akira, half-Ghost in the Shell kind of feel, Psycho-Pass is almost immediately indicative of something Gen would want to do. The subtle nuances and interesting direction choices from Naoyoshi Shiotani bring this out very well, making this ... one of the most thrilling series I've ever seen as well.

My favorite thing about this anime, though, is easily its story. A somewhat dystopian future is compounded with a system by Sybil Industries, who are responsible for developing the Psycho-Pass system, a system that gauges the likelihood of a person to commit a crime. In a Minority Report-esque twist, Psycho-Pass is far from perfect, and in many instances, the numbers are skewed by the situation itself, leaving many innocent civilians in danger of running an elevated Psycho-Pass level and accidentally being killed by police officers when they might just need a minute to sit down and sort through things.

Psycho-Pass is not a challenging anime to watch, but it can be challenging to understand. The character development is executed somewhat awkwardly, especially around the main characters, but this is more than compensated for by its thrilling narrative and, ironically enough, that lack of understanding itself. You start to get drawn in more by what you don't know than by what you do after a while. While this can backfire towards the end of most psychological series, I felt they did an excellent job capping this one off.

Overall, Psycho-Pass is worth at least a good look. I love this series to pieces, and I know there are at least a few other people out there who will as well.

Angel Beats! is my favorite anime series of all time.

I never really got into any of Key's visual novels, so the fact that they were behind this project didn't really bear a whole lot of weight when I first started watching this. One thing Key excels at is its ability to tell a great story with little more than character interaction, and this is something Angel Beats! loves to do. Everyone has a backstory, and it's pretty simple to get a grasp of their feelings toward their situation. The story is actually the weakest element of the whole series, but it's nothing to scoff at. ... This series has the potential to make grown men cry, and I've seen it happen.

Angel Beats' art direction is simply breathtaking, the absolute best I've ever seen in any anime. While the school building itself looks pretty typical, it's the lush environments, absolutely fantastic animation and eye-candy visuals behind every shot. The character designs are really interesting and unique for a series like this, and they work together with the scenery and lighting techniques in ways I've only dreamed an anime series could bring these elements together.

The sound work is extremely high-end. Blades clashing, bullets flying, rock guitars rocking out - they spared no expense in bringing the sound direction to levels I have never heard before from any anime series. Voice actors are excellent as well, conveying a wide array of emotions with near pinpoint accuracy. The Japanese dub is a little better than the English, but I won't complain about either.

But the heart of Angel Beats is absolutely in its characters. While a lot of series will bog you down with extras and throwaways, this series does a fantastic job of introducing, fleshing out, and sculpting each character's personality to very human levels. Every character they introduce is worth mentioning, for their own unique look and feel and for their influence on the story's direction. I don't have a list of favorite characters, I have the whole cast down as my favorites. Relying too much on the strength of characters is a dangerous technique for an anime to use, but it works very well here and doesn't detract from anything else.

I cannot recommend this series enough. Words simply do no justice for the quality of this piece of animation. Do yourself a favor and watch this series.

Toradora! was very puzzling for me to sit down and watch, but surprisingly rewarding.

First off, I can only sometimes get into rom-coms, and it's usually only when the romantic subplot is in the back seat enough that it doesn't bog down the rest of the show and take away from the comedic value. Oddly enough, however, this anime is very easy to get into specifically because the romantic plot is right up front, working in perfect harmony with the jokes and eccentricities in other ways I haven't yet seen any other anime succeed in doing. From the get-go, you can see exactly which characters are ... going to be the most important in getting the series to take off properly. So the story itself intertwines nicely with the other elements, including but not limited to its high amounts of drama. And you will get plenty of drama here.

The art direction reminds me a lot of Baka to Test. It's thoroughly bright and flashy without compromise, and all of the elements in the art direction work together well. Character designs are typical, but exercised skillfully, and animation is a nice strong point this anime has going for it. It feels very fluid and easy to watch, which may be part of the reason I stuck with it through and through. The sound work is roughly the same quality, a little over-the-top but nothing enough to hinder the series on other fronts as well.

I do love the characters in this series. I normally get annoyed when the characters take the forefront so commandingly, but they're strong enough to carry the series on their own. Aisaka Taiga, the main heroine, isn't exactly a tsundere, but comes pretty close to being one, leading her personality to some nicely integrated slapstick humor and a surprising amount of emotional depth. She's a character you simultaneously love to hate and enjoy watching way too much. And surprisingly, even though much of the rest of the cast stays out of the limelight, they are important enough and provide more than enough sustenance to keep the series afloat. It was a wise decision to keep the cast small.

In closing, Toradora! is a series I have a soft spot for. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a decent rom-com.

Hyouka has its own unique look and feel, but that's about it.

I hate slice-of-life stuff. You know, if it's gonna be slice-of-life, at least make it interesting. Thankfully this anime succeeded at that, but failed in a lot of other ways. I don't know if there was genuinely enough of a plot to even complain about pacing, but it did feel like you could watch any given episode and be just as lost as you were at the end of the last one. There's not a whole lot to complain about because the story is just there, it's not getting in the way of any ... of the characters, who are the real selling point here. I should say the story is pretty good, but I can't. Hyouka has a very unique beauty to it, something I've never seen in any other anime before, but it really doesn't come into play with the story very much.

There's not a whole lot of animation, as compared to many other mystery series out there. A few diagrams here and there, character speculation and thought, and so on and so forth are brought forward very nicely by the art style, which appears to be of very high quality in terms of production. Color isn't one of this anime's strong points, but where it is employed, it is executed very well and serves to set the mood almost all of the time throughout the show. I did find this aspect to be quite enjoyable.

The sound work is interesting, to say the least. They could really have gone over the top with this series and made it twice as interesting as it ended up being, but it does a decent enough job of setting an atmosphere. There's very little to be set up, however; the whole series, especially as it revolves around the main four characters, could have been executed a lot better than it ended up.

The characters are thankfully very engaging. Perhaps the most unique thing about this anime is that all four of the main characters really share the spotlight; it rarely, if ever, feels like any one of them is being favored over the other three, and that's a good thing, because on their own, each character is pretty bland. It's only when the group shows up to make sense of things that Hyouka shows its true nature. In particular, I liked Oreki Hotarou the most. He has the kind of attitude where you can tell he really doesn't care very much, but when it comes down to it, he does show quite a bit of compassion for his friends, which really redeems him.

Overall, Hyouka needed a better climax and perhaps a little more entertainment value. I honestly would have loved to see the series go over the top, such as a slightly more serious Scooby-Doo, but for what it is, it's enjoyable. I would recommend at least giving it the once over and figuring out what there is to this series that makes it worth your while. This is a very love-it-or-hate-it series, and I'm just barely straddling the line.

I wanted to love this anime, but it just doesn't cut it for me.

Yumekui Merry, or Dream Eater Merry, is an anime that brings so much to the table, then drops it flat on its head. There was a lot of potential for true greatness here, and I feel like a lot of it went to waste. One main character can see into peoples' dreams, and the other fights off nightmares to save them from losing their emotions entirely. The story is, at least, quite good, and is the main reason you'll want to keep watching; it makes you think, at least, about the potential ... possibilities for all of the characters, even the ones that aren't very important, which is kind of a good thing.

The artwork and direction are a mixed bag. You'll get some fantastic animation during the fight scenes, and some horrifyingly cheesy direction at some other points. The environments always have a foreboding, dreary sense about them, so much so that it serves the story a little too well and actually distracts from some notes that were meant to be a whole lot more light-hearted. You'll find this a lot in Yumekui Merry, so if your patience doesn't serve you well through the first episode, you're probably not going to fall in love with the series.

The sound work would be decent for something with a smaller budget. Some pretty good BGM and interesting enough voice acting are enough to keep you interested, but not devoted and intent on reading into every word. Ultimately, the voice acting ends up being a little stale at points where it needs to be livelier, which can tear the anime apart from the inside out where it needs to be tighter. Yumeji, the male protagonist, in particular, is really flat for someone who's got so much craziness going on in his life, and even more so for someone who is implied to have a romantic relationship with the main heroine. It all just becomes hard to believe and doesn't take itself seriously at all.

Characters are a redeeming factor here, thankfully. Even if they sound a little flat and emotionless sometimes, it's hard not to remember Merry's signature look. The design looks like a collision of Kingdom Hearts, Soul Eater and Jet Set Radio, if you had to animate it, which leaves a fine lasting impression. However, it's very easy to rely on these characters to hold the whole series together as a result. This leads to a bittersweet conclusion that I felt was inadequate for the time and effort it spent building up to the final moments of the show.

I wouldn't recommend this. Ultimately this series has a lot of redeeming factors that could save it, if the other ones didn't constantly get in the way and seemingly purposefully set us up to knock us down. The end result is broken and muddied, and it's not pretty in the least.

Highschool of the Dead is everything you'll dream it can be: massive, bouncing, and ready to kill some zombies. And that's just in its chest.

Yes, HotD is fanservice laden. As a matter of fact, I felt dirty watching this anime and loving it so much. It's like Jerry Springer in that regard: you can't help but feel your brain cells being destroyed with every passing second, but you absolutely can't look away for a second. That's what HotD does to me. The story and pacing are actually quite well done, for a zombie apocalypse anime. The concept is insanely simple to grasp and follow ... all the way through. It feels like what you'd get if The Zombie Survival Guide got an anime adaptation and it was done by the dirtiest old man in the room, which works to its advantage.

For such a filthy anime, HotD is absolutely beautiful. Environments are well-illustrated, the directing and animation is top-notch, and even the character designs, while little can be said about the women except "boobs," serve all the right purposes at all the right times. The walking dead themselves are even well-animated for being nothing but a bunch of redshirts, essentially, which makes this about as entertaining and believable as an anime about the zombie apocalypse can be.

The sound work is okay. The music is mostly mediocre and most of the ending themes feel forced, but it gets the job done in a sort of B-movie way that brings things together in a good way. However, I VASTLY prefer Steven Foster's English dub, mainly because it sounds so much more... believable? It's hard to describe. The Japanese is well done enough, but the English dub has more substance to it. While the characters could be played by sticks with watermelons in grocery bags on them, the Japanese dub just seems somewhat less lively and doesn't accurately portray the kind of raw, high emotion the English dub seems to capture absolutely perfectly. Which is ironic, because you can't go through one episode of this anime without having the F-bomb dropped seven times a minute.

Characters, for the most part, are kind of bland and boring, but it's forgivable because they've got a strange air of realism to them. You'll be glad you don't remember their names. The character designs were made to emphasize some elements, but they leave plenty more to be desired and honestly don't cut it for me at all. But this is at least part of the reason why the English dub feels so much more realistic. It doesn't feel like you're watching an anime about the zombie apocalypse without people legitimately freaking out and not caring what they say, much less how they say it. If a character needs to say "F*** you," it doesn't feel out of place here, and it really does feel like a zombie apocalypse in that these are characters nobody else really cares about, which kinda serves its own purpose.

Despite this anime's glaring flaws - and yes, there are PLENTY - Highschool of the Dead isn't the worst thing ever to come out of Japan, and it's certainly left a mark on the zombie genre. If nothing else, I'd like to see more zombie anime come out of Japan. I don't know who I would recommend this anime to, but it's definitely a load of fun and it's worth a try if you think you'll like it.

On the rare, but occasional occurrence, that a video game gets a great anime adaptation, don't pass it up.

Persona 4: The Animation is based on the Shin Megami Tensei title of the same name. The plot follows almost the exact same way, with a few new jokes thrown into the mix here and there, and the re-imagining of others in an anime format covering for any lack of originality it might have from the original. Those of you who have played the game will know right away that the story is far from lackluster, combining elements of mystery and danger with supernatural action and excitement. ... Persona 4 was, in my opinion, the best game ever to come out on the PS2, and the anime does a great job of reinforcing the same spirit and levels of suspense to it that the game had, albeit in a shorter, and therefore more concise, package. This throws off the pacing a little bit, but it's not a big enough difference to make or break this show.

Unlike most anime adaptations, Persona 4 had a high budget, and it shows. SMT games are never ugly to look at, so the anime is just as pretty, with all kinds of great lighting techniques that really show off the perfect levels of detail and attention they paid to the artwork itself. At times, it feels closer to playing out as a live-action color manga than an anime, and this works to its advantage. The animation and style will keep you hooked, especially if you're an older viewer with fond memories of growing up and watching some fantastic animation out of older shonen-action series. That said, it's not style over substance, either, though. The show's got plenty of substance to back up that style, and it ultimately feels very rewarding.

As such, like with the games, the sound work is high-budget and it shows. I'm personally really happy that as much of the game's OST made it into the anime as it did, because you don't have to fix what isn't broken. That said, I prefer the anime's OP to that of the game's, which is a good thing. The few things they added into the anime that weren't in the original series don't hold anything back in terms of how it all comes together. Voice actors are just as precise with their ability to exercise their emotional versatility as they are in the game, if not, perhaps even more so.

Characters in this series have really taken off on their own. The game's silent protagonist, Narukami Yu in the anime, in particular, is a blast to watch. His jokes are simply great because, whether you've played the games or not, you can instantly get a feel for his sense of humor and victorious sense of style. The other characters and events have been expanded upon as well, and it sets up the protagonist and other characters alike to have much more familial, close relationships with their teammates than anything a silent protagonist could offer. In this way, the anime really succeeded at capturing the feel the game was trying to offer, without making you feel like you have to pick the controller back up when you're done.

I really enjoyed this anime. Everything feels right in its style and execution, and ultimately does a reliable job of bringing the story and characters of P4 to a wider audience with every step it takes. In short, this is a fantastic way to get into Persona without having to hunt down a copy and play through it, a task that can take upwards of 100 hours in one playthrough. Definitely give this anime a shot if you've ever been interested in Persona. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Sword Art Online is, without a doubt, one of the best anime series I have ever seen.

If you're not an MMO gamer or you don't know MMO gamers, you probably won't get a lot of the story as it is presented to you. SAO, first and foremost, takes place almost entirely inside a VRMMORPG, and the leitmotif, like that of .hack/sign, is one entirely open to interpretation. SAO does something extraordinary by bringing the fundamental issues of MMOs, especially one as dangerous as the one they end up in, to the forefront at all the right times, and executing them perfectly. This is the all-important ... plot element that separates SAO from your typical, high-budget shovelware shonen-action anime, and brings it around to a well-balanced, psychological piece that can really make you wonder. The story is wonderfully executed and comes together in a stylish package that draws you into the action and emotion beautifully.

Some of SAO's characters seem to be lacking a bit, but I don't mind too much, especially when, even if they're featured for an episode and then thrown away, they are at least interesting and keep you watching through the filler. Rest assured, though, that there isn't much of that. Some of the most important plot elements of SAO come from the filler, which, while odd, at least helps everything to serve some purpose. The main character, Kirito, is for all intents of purposes, very typical as a shonen hero; beat the game, save the girl, etc. But his reaction to events is what makes him so easy to watch. He's got all the hallmarks of a stereotypical swordsman lead, without any of the drawbacks that come with being a stereotypical swordsman lead. In many ways, his attitude reflects the sense of urgency you will no doubt feel through the interactions of the characters as the series continues on, which is the very element that makes it so easy to get drawn in and distract you from the few glaring flaws SAO has against it.

The artwork is fantastic, decadent and crystal-clear, with vibrant, vivid color and imagery set to a fantasy background that somehow feels close to real without ever even approaching it. Animation is at an all-time high, especially for the epic look and feel of the boss battles, which, again, hold a much greater sense of urgency than that of any other shonen-action anime you'll see. As a matter of fact, the only thing I can scrutinize here is the character design, which is really enough to make most people think that it's nothing more than another typical shonen action anime. The designs do, however, work really well with the other elements of the design,
which makes up for it quite a lot and helps you to forget the flaws rather than point them out.

The sound work isn't bad at all. I felt the voice actors did an excellent job of conveying the tension and high emotion necessary for the series to continue forward the way it needed to. On the other hand, the music is pretty blah. There are some great high-tension moments and the soundtrack accurately sets the mood for every waking moment, so the sound direction is very well placed, but all of the backing music feels like I've heard it before. Thankfully they didn't go with a whole lot of cheesy heavy metal guitar riffs, as you'll hear from a lot of other anime in its class, but SAO's sound work does leave much to be desired.

Even the little things not perfectly executed in this series don't leave enough to be desired that SAO isn't highly enjoyable and recommendable. Definitely give it a go if you like your shonen-action with a little bit more of an adult sense of direction, and absolutely give it a go if you're looking for something close to what .hack/sign should have been.

This series had so much potential. I REALLY want to love it and I like that it takes on issues that are all too often left behind by a lot of other series.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! is, first and foremost, a comedy, with a romantic subplot taking the back seat; this makes it easy to enjoy, even for people like me, who don't normally dig rom-coms. In a lot of ways, this anime addresses the kids who aren't exactly on the same page with the rest of the class and paints them in a positive light. It almost feels like an autism awareness ... campaign at certain points, and to me, that is actually pretty cool. Anime like this make you understand how far off the beaten path you sometimes have to look in order to find someone interesting, and that's a breath of fresh air from all the other series I've seen recently.

What really brings out the character of this anime is its characters. Takanashi Rikka, in particular, is a breath of fresh air from the archetypal tsundere heroine of any rom-com anime to have come out in the past 3 years (aside from Nyarlko-san, but that's beside the point), even if sometimes she's slightly annoying to watch because of how close she is to understanding something new about the world outside her own head, yet how far she is from practicing her understanding of things. The other characters, while interesting, unique, and funny to watch in their own ways, do serve little purpose, other than to back up the strength of the main two, but they're mostly at least memorable and fun to watch, even if the jokes get overplayed occasionally.

In the same way, however, the anime relies much too strongly on its characters. A lot of the rest of the execution, especially in its transition from manga to anime, is spotty. The plot pacing is all over the place, and even if that's understandable, given the nature of the characters, it still creates a visible distraction in the series, especially with the last few episodes taking things in a direction that I personally feel it didn't have to go in. The animation is top-notch for the imaginary fight scenes between the characters, but this doesn't mesh perfectly with the artwork itself, which feels minimalistic and somewhat avant-garde. Color schemes and motifs seem to be pulled from Yumekui Merry, in a weird sort of way; the contrast may be a little too high, which makes the environment appear dirty at times, which muddies up the softer, pastel-almost colors of the characters themselves.

Sound work is somewhat cliche, even for anime standards. Moe characters have typical moe voices, which can work to make you want to watch more if that's what you're into. The music is okay, helping at least to serve the purpose of locking you into the story, but it's not remarkable. I've definitely heard better, but it's not a big enough deal to knock it down over.

Again, however, I really want to love this series. I would really recommend it for someone who's looking for a breath of fresh air, but doesn't care too much about plot pacing and can get around the various speed bumps Chuunibyou has to offer in its final presentation.

Rurouni Kenshin isn't a series that you can really fairly judge without having seen it twice over; once as a kid and once as an adult. Back when it first came out in the USA, Kenshin was what I really looked forward to, once Dragonball Z was over (this was the Buu saga, which has openly been denounced and told to go sit in a corner until it learns not to exist).

Anyway, I digress. Story-wise, you have to really sort of be selective about stories to enjoy it. It's a jidaigeki series, and one of very, very few of its kind, so if you're looking ... for giant robots and ninjas and whatnot, this isn't the series for you. Kenshin really sets itself apart from a lot of other series like it in that the comic relief never feels ill-timed or forced. It's a very natural progression, and even the English dub (which is abysmal in comparison) doesn't really hit a nerve with its jests. Once you get into the real meat of the story, it's sort of generic, but incredibly well told.
The art style is fantastic. Words do not describe how beautiful some of the artwork in this series is, except that you have to see it for yourself. Accurate details, lush backgrounds, and active, lively, brilliant action scenes lend themselves very well to the heavy-handed emotion that starts to crescendo in the Shishio arc (episodes 24-50). The detail in the characters' animation is intense and reflective. You really get a feel for Nobuhiro Watsuki's style, and the directing that brings it all together is nothing short of excellent.
The sound work is... well, great for its time. When you compare it to some of the better sound work of the 2010s, it feels like it kinda got left behind a bit. The music is excellent, the voice acting (Japanese) is pretty good, and the sound effects for battles are very cliched, but well done all the same.
This brings me to the shining point of the anime, which is the character. Watsuki has a very unique style to him, which makes him the only person really suited to directing this anime. There's a lot of things that Watsuki did here that took some real chances, such as making up his own sword techniques and keeping the animation style for said techniques to a bare minimum, but it ultimately pays off as it allows the anime to reach a wider audience. This also results in an as-of-yet completely original style in terms of look and feel, something that no other anime, let alone jidaigeki, has been able to properly capture. There's something in it for everyone, and Watsuki works his absolute hardest to make sure everyone gets the same feel.
All in all, this is a very enjoyable work, and I highly recommend it to any fan of anime. Even though this is a shonen series, it's got some real highlights any fan can enjoy.