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So, let me just first say it's super annoying to see someone review a show 4 episodes in. Just don't review it if you're not going to give it a proper chance. Second, it's even more annoying when they talk about it being slow during the four first episodes then a few sentences later gripe at how too much was skipped. I mean for real?

Now that I have that out of the way let me just clarify a few things... First of all, don't start with this season - this is not where the story begins. There is a ... Noblesse OVA that should have been listed as episode 1 or 0 or something. To no fault of the series itself, but Crunchyroll rather they split this up, so for someone that missed that OVA it could be quite confusing going into this. If you watch the OVA however, you should be fine, as yes all is not revealed in the first 3 or so episodes so you may not understand everything, but that's ok. Let it tell the story and it will reveal more as it goes along, it's part of story-telling after all.

Secondly, I'll just note that I watched the OVA years ago and LOVED it. I'm sure to someone who had already finished the webtoon they may have felt too much was left out, but for someone that had never even heard of the series, I fell in love with the series and that OVA is the only reason I went and read the webtoon at all, so no I can't say the OVA is bad at all. I think it's great.

Having said that I do feel like the art and fluidity (in the animation) of this season is not on par with the OVA. I thought the OVA was beautifully animated. Seeing someone walk was more natural and well, the characters just looked better too. Not sure why they gave Rai a haircut in the series either as he was perfect in the OVA. I do think they could improve in this area, and should use the OVA as a reference of how to do it right.

Now, just note this series is an action series with some drama and humor mixed in. And once you are accustomed to the series, it's actually nicely done and becomes funnier. I will also admit the first few episodes will feel slow, they are just getting you accustomed to the characters and things that are currently ongoing. I'm now around 11episodes in and every one of the last several episodes has been fantastic, as we are now past the intros and all the setup and are getting into the thick of the story, and it's really good.

I can assure you this series is extremely action packed and has some amazing characters, an interesting storyline and some beyond epic battles. Like with most good things, just be patient with it though. Let it tell the story and help familiarize you with characters because then the events that happen around them later will be that much more meaningful and exciting for you.

Seeing the animation that came out for God of High School and Jujutsu Kaisen, I can't say this is the best anime of the season....but I can say if you give it time I definitely think you'll find it quite enjoyable, as it's a unique spin on the typical vampire story and the characters you'll meet are well worth the ride!

After seeing some of the ridiculous reviews for this show I thought I'd write my own.

First let me say to all the haters that said it's like every other anime, or compare it to AoT, quit being an AoT fanboy and trying to say that anything that has humanity at risk in some future time is an AoT rip-off. You're an idiot if you think AoT is the first to come up with that theme, and also if you think that's not general enough that a 1000 shows couldn't be created on such a basic premise and each and every one offer highly unique ... and totally separate stories, then you're apparently just a shallow individual and frankly I don't see how you enjoy shit, because literally everything has something that's slightly similar to something else. That LITERALLY could be said of everything if we are nitpicking...like you obviously are.

Ok, so now that we are past that....

This anime occurs at a time when humanity was at risk of extinction. They are slowly trying to make a come-back, but things are not as they were and vampires are at the top of the food chain currently, as they seized the opportunity to step out of the shadows when humanity was at it's weakest.

The situation humanity finds themselves in, is also self-inflicted...our curiosity and greed often lead us down paths we should not tread. The majority of humans that survived where children, which were seized by the vampires and used for food basically (a renewable food source however).

This is where the story begins.... The anime is about bonds of friends/family and how important those are and how they mold our decisions and make us into who we are. I won't go into too much detail, as you should watch it...so I don't want to ruin anything. I will tell you however, the story is touching. This season is a bit lighthearted for most of the season, but near the end, once the stage has been set, it really heats up. Remember this is two seasons, so there is a lot of build up to establish the story...

I see folks complaining about S1, but many of the ravings sound like uneducated comments someone makes based on a half-ass assessment. As in, they have not watched the entire season and/or definitely didn't watch S2. I understand if some may be confused after only S1, but ....I say again...FRET NOT THERE IS A SEASON 2. if they revealed all there was to know and told you all the secrets of the universe in S1, WTF would there be a need for more seasons for? So stating the story got crazy and didn't make sense at the end, is idiotic if you're not going to invest the time in watching S2 before making that assessment. The story is VERY good and VERY interesting actually, but you may not get it all or understand enough unless you watch both seasons. S1 only hints at some of the real meat in this story, again...it's setting the stage for you.

The characters....well I love the characters. I really don't understand when people say the characters in this show are flat or whatever, as I couldn't disagree more. Guren is so complex I could write a whole book just about that guy all on his own. I ADORE Mikeala and Yuu....they are endearing and feel genuine. Shinoa is a blast and adds the perfect mix into these characters. I literally love all these characters, even the ones I hate (here's looking at you Ferid).

Sound is great, so won't spend a lot of time there. I will touch on animation / art though. I love this show's art style. The animation of the characters is clean, nothing tooo amazing, but it's very nicely done, with crisp colors and it is surprisingly pleasing to the eye. The backdrops throughout however, are beautiful. Many times they feel painted or like it's a canvas, and right at first it was a bit odd to me, but once I got used to seeing it, I fell in love. It really is quite beautiful and I found myself missing parts of the show because I was admiring the scenery in old subway, etc... To me that says...you did it. You got something nice and unique...hats off. So for me it was all good there. I'll also note that a lot of anime is REALLY lazy when it comes to fight scenes. This anime however, does it beautifully...I love seeing them throw their blades around, because it's so fluid and the lighting and sparks and such are very beautiful actually. I am actually a huge fan of how the action is handled in this anime, it's just very nicely done if you ask me.

Overall I am a big fan of this show. I feel it's HIGHLY underrated and that most of the haters are just fanboys of some of the other popular show and haven't even given it a fair assessment before posting their BS. This show truly offers something unique, and is something I WISHED more shows offered, so it really fills a gap for me. It annoys me to see all the ridiculous reviews too, so here's what I have to say to you. Do you like vampire stuff and are you willing to watch both seasons? If yes, watch this....don't take my word for it or the other naysayers ...go watch it for yourself, because I'm confident you won't regret it.

I really hope they eventually make another season of this, as you could make entire anime's just on a few of these characters, so I definitely need more of this show in my life!!!

Ok, so I figured this series would be a hole in one for me... a romantic (whether that be tragic or not) historical, ninja-drama....is right up my alley. The overarching story is good, one you've heard before ...forbidden love, warring clans, etc... With a slight twist on the reason why, but familiar grounds.

Based on all those things...again normally this would be a home run but ....it was not. I COULD have been, but wasn't....

**Potential minor spoilers ahead**

So...considering how truly difficult it was for me to watch this show for pretty much the ENTIRE first half....I mean I literally almost stopped watching it numerous ... times .. I feel my rating of 7 is pretty kind. And below is where I will tell you what the turning point was and why, etc...

So for me the story and all that are fine...right, they are good. Sound was fair, art was fine, etc... That leaves the main focal points being characters and story...and we already said story was fine.

The concept of supernatural abilities and ninjas ...sounds AWESOME to me. BUT, what failed for me MAJORLY was how it was implemented....to me they took over the top ridiculous ass characters and shoved them into this serious and dramatic show...and if they were meant to be funny, ok, maybe but they just friggin sucked and made me want to stop watching. It was not until most of those ridiculous ass characters were killed off that I could finally get into the show and enjoy the other really neat characters and story.

For me the spider/phlegm ninja (really...phlegm, and a spider ball on his back...WTF), a hairy ass ...hair ninja, slimer...literally was like a damn rotten corpse walking around that could turn into ooze, a balloon man, and 90 year old rubber man.... I HATED these characters...every second of screentime they had made me want to rate this damn show a 2 and stop watching it. The one guy literally had tufts....tufts of hair growing out of his nose, and he could use it to fight with....LOL. I mean, soooooo stupid. This TRULY almost killed this show for me....it was just beyond awful.

So....my advice for anyone wanting to watch a cool supernatural ninja historical drama...is if you like ridiculous ass characters (think One Piece characters - which let me be clear....they WORK fine there...it's a totally different kind of show), maybe you'll LOVE this...but even then, I honestly don't see how anyone could enjoy those chars.... If you're like me though and felt that was over the top stupid to even have those in the show...and you can make it through like 10 or more episodes because you're super persistent....then there may be a silver lining for you. I will talk about that below...

So again, for me the above literally RUINED the entire first half of the show for me. HOWEVER, don't think all the characters were pulled out of the trash like those...others had legit super interesting abilities and were interesting characters....they didn't feel like damn mutants or aliens that found there way in to the wrong damn show. They had abilities that fit with the setting / story, and were still unique and intriguing. Some of those great characters though, had WAY too little screentime, while the ones that made me want to shoot myself for watching this seemed to have WAY too much...BUT my point is hang in there, there are really interesting and cool chars.

If you can get over that first half or that sort of thing doesn't bother you, this really does get much better toward then end. It's more focused on just a few chars, who are cool, but not alien mutants in a ninja show... so the story really starts to shine a bit better and let's you appreciate the existing chars much better.

I won't speak of the end, as I don't want to give anything away though, but let me just say that if I were to have rated this after the first few episodes...it would've got like a 2...it just seemed over the top stupid to me. If I would've rated it halfway through, I would have at least gave it say a 5....I started to appreciate the things that I did not loathe more by that point. BUT....if they would have made the first half more focused on legit ninja/powers and those type of chars.....this show may have got like a 9 from me....maybe....it was great at parts for sure. BUT I cannot ignore how grueling it was to make it through the first part, so I really do think my 7 is a pretty "nice" rating considering that....but I am glad I watched this as the second half had lots of feels, focused on the much better chars, and so I really did enjoy that portion.

If you decide to watch this...good luck. I think if you love ninja shows, and can get past the oddities that someone decided to throw in here, I really do think you'll enjoy it. Just hope you are a patient person...

After reading a few of the reviews for this show I felt I needed to write one of my own. ESPECIALLY after reading some of the highest voted ones....LOL...I've never wanted a down vote button on a review so bad or a way to comment on a review, but instead some innocent reader is going to read some of that BS and be swayed by their garbage and potentially bypass this GEM. I will also note that at this time I've watched 19 episodes of the show, and waiting to see the last 5 or so, and will change this review if those ... last few episodes cause me to reflect any differently on this (BTW...I have now completed this anime and my review stands....it deserves the 9 rating I gave it).

So first of all, let me just say if you're the type that likes everything to be politically correct and goes crying "offensive!!" whenever something you disagree with is displayed in a TV show, perhaps you should %#$& OFF. :D Ok, now for the rest of us that appreciates a good story and realizes injustices occur in the world, that this is FICTION, and aren't afraid to hear about the good and bad parts of life (esp if we learn something from it) ...then read on and know you'll probably enjoy this show!

This is a fantasy story about finding oneself and learning to deal with the harshness and challenges of life. It has all sorts of other stories intertwined in it's midst as well...tales of lost loves, legends, life, loss, family, miracles, romance, etc... If you want all sunshine and roses in everything you watch though 1) are you 5? and 2) see my second paragraph, last portion of first sentence, as this show...while it certainly has many warm and happy moments, it also is not afraid to remind us that with life comes pain of all sorts....happiness too, sometimes in very unexpected places, but life's not all sunshine. I appreciate that about this show, and I also appreciate a story with adult concepts and not all giddy school kid bullshit. :D

The characters of this show are wonderful. When they feel, you feel....they relay that really well, despite the challenge that likely is considering one of the main chars has a skull for a face (aka so no emotions to show really). The story really conveys well what the main characters may be experiencing and how their feelings can change drastically as the show progresses. The characters are complex, and intriguing. The main characters, true enough have a pretty large age gap.....but who cares. This is fiction, she is not 10...she's 16...and is very mature for her age and he's not you're average ..anything really...and is god knows how old (so if that's what you're going by any human is "too young" for him). Also, if you've seen Natsume's Book of Friends and weren't offended by the little fish lady falling in love with the little boy, then I think you'll be just fine (and if you were offended by that see second paragraph, last part of first sentence). I actually recall thinking several times that this show reminds me of Natsume BoF....and I adore that show as well. This is like that but way more "fantasy" elements (elves, fairies, magical beasts, etc... it's like Harry Potter meets Natsume BoF...kind of).

This truly is a magical experience. It is a unique and fantastical world and story that grips you all the way through. I think this is one of those rare gems you come across, so I would advise you all to watch it yourself, don't listen to the idiots talking about how there is slavery and that's so wrong or any of that other bull, as the wrongs that happen in life are what make the happy moments shine so bright in this show....so, hell don't even listen to my rants here....go right now and watch this for yourself and make your own decision. I am confident you'll be glad you did. :D

If they would have put a little more into the ending this could have been a 9, but instead it just felt like another episode with nothing truly meaningful happening to close it out. Very disappointed in how lack luster it was....it's not that it was awful or something terrible occurred necessarily, it just felt like a big build up to hear something the whole show then the end just kind of fizzled....with no fulfillment...I mean SAY IT ALREADY....lame.

Anyway, having said that if you like drama romances, school shows, etc.... You'll probably really like this one, definitely worth watching and i really liked the ... characters too. They will make you angry at times, but normal dumb stuff thoughtless kids too...nothing to make you hate them long term. Definitely worth a watch.

So after seeing several folks just hammering this anime in their reviews, I decided to write one as well.

This is a great anime. Just because the title is Gangsta doesn't mean i'm going to deduct points because the politics and car chase scenes weren't super deep and in every episode. Nor just because those elements didn't compare to something like The Departed also doesn't mean it can't be called Gangsta nor will I rate it down for not being some other mob movie/show I've seen. This is it's own show...not one of those. If you want Departed or the like, watch ... Departed. If you want an anime with gangsters in it and it's very own stories about those individuals...well you got it.

I for one loved the characters. Worick and Nic are now at the top of my list in anime characters that I truly love....badass, adult characters, not teeny boppers. So if you're also looking for some teen/school show with 12 year old leads....don't watch this then rate it down because you're disappointed. This is a mature anime with adult characters.

Having said that this is also a somewhat fantasy/super power type film to an extent, as it is about some individuals which posses superhuman strength. It's not magic to be clear though, so don't misinterpret "fantasy" nor is it super heroes, but I'm just not sure what else to call it - think drug-induced super human abilities. I for one enjoyed that aspect versus it just being a regular mob type story. Also after reading a few other reviews....who says that mob bosses all have to be assholes. Sure some are, but some without a doubt use their power and influence to help others, even if unlawfully, so I'm not going to get my panties in a wad like some just because some of the mob bosses partake in good deeds. That's not surprising actually.

In summary this show has a very enjoyable story. I will note however, there does not seem to be a Season 2 (at least at the moment) and Season 1 very much ends as if there was going to be a Season 2 to finish showing what happened. I will not rate this down for that though, because lots of series do this (end on cliff hangers and pick it up in the next season - just watch Game of Thrones if you don't believe me and that show is f'ing the best ever). Anyway, just be warned though....if you want closure, maybe don't watch this. I for one however, am glad I watched it and will be hoping every day that they do another season of this awesome anime. It is very refreshing to me to see adult shows with adults..... A++

I by the way, was on the border between giving this an 8 or a 9, and I will say I definitely feel it was better than a lot of the shows I rated as an 8, I'm not certain it's as good as some of the ones I rated as a 9. If i could give it an 8.75 I would...but for now it will have settle for an 8 since that's not an option.

UPDATE - the more I let this show and chars sink in the more of I love it, so making the plunge and rounding this up to a 9 (did have it as an 8 initially). It truly is an exceptional show....I just PRAY they come to their senses and do another season.

Well in normal Gintama tradition this started out as a 8-9 out of 10 as usual for me ...i.e. this series just has that great mix of comedy with some action sprinkled in..it's got just the right mix to be at the top of my list for best anime's of all time. This season however, finally got a fantastic upgrade to the graphics though and looked PHENOMENAL....truly beautiful to behold.

What really did it for me though was the last 20 or so episodes....outstanding. FINALLY getting to see some history behind Gintoki and what happened during the war was beyond satisfying, quickly pushing this ... season into my fav's of all time. I LOVE the comedy in this series, but my god they know how to do a serious story right as well, and I simply cannot get enough of the badass scenes of Gintoki being well...badass....MORE, MORE, I need MORE!!!

Great season, def one of my faves, esp toward the second half. Truly outstanding and well worth the watch for any Gintama fan.

After seeing some of the total crap reviews of this anime, I felt inclined to do one of my own.

I won't summarize sections, let's just say of all the categories none received below a 9 for me. Chars, story, art, etc...all great.

For the fanboys rating this anime down because it has similarities to Attack on Titan, such as humanity dying off so are living in a walled in area to be safe.... Get over yourself, that's in a MILLION animes and movies, and guess what Attack on Titan wasn't the first. You'd know that if you didn't have your head so far ... up AoT's butt that you can't even see the light of day anymore....

Moving on....the characters are good. Sure some chars piss you off at times, they are supposed to though. No one wants a show where everyone always does EXACTLY what we think they should do and never screws @#$% up. I really liked several of the chars, even the female leads some folks are griping about. Also whoever said the acting was bad HAD to be having a stroke when they watched it or watched the English dubbed version...which who are we kidding, 99.9995% of all English dubbed animes have worse than crap acting, no shocker there, that's why you should just watch the subbed version....it's GREAT.

I for one, actually prefer this anime over AoT (and I'm not saying that because I dislike AoT....because I don't, i actually REALLY enjoy it a lot - just being honest). For one, I like the lack of zip line fighting and not having too see some of the dumbest looking twats running around nude as "titans" just makes this more appealing to me. **UPDATE** - Now that there is only one more season left in AoT, I can honestly say now that I prefer it more, but at the time of this review there was not. I can't say whether this show would or wouldn't be better if it had more seasons, but my initial reaction based on the first 1 or 2 seasons of AoT is that I prefer this, after S3 of AoT though I think it won me over finally - all that to say, BOTH are great. Watch 'em both.

This anime while, agree there are some BROAD similarities is NOT Attack on Titan...you can watch both animes, and enjoy the hell out of both, never once feeling like "oh I've seen this before", etc... They are truly both unique in their own right, within their own stories ... especially how the heroes totally differ in their abilities and power to be able to fight back. The stories are truly are quite different once you realize that just because it's an end of the world / let's save humanity scenario doesn't make the other 90% of the story that's told have to be the same as other shows with that general premise, because it's not.

Long story short....this is a GREAT anime. VERY much worth a watch, so ignore some of the harsh ratings on here, those folks clearly just don't like this sort of thing (which is fine, to each their own), are too much of AoT fanboys to even enjoy anything else, or were experiencing that time of month when they wrote their review. So...ignore their BS, hell ignore mine if you want, but at least watch the anime and make your own choice...it's worth the watch and I think you'll be glad you did.

I just wanted to add a follow-up review for Season 2....

The art in this one (characters and such, not backdrop) was not as good as in Season 1. A few times it was actually sloppy it seemed, but for the most part was still good...just not on the same level as Season 1 was.

Characters...well I like the characters for the most part but I blame the portions I don't like on story/writing. The story was simply not as good in this one because many of the actions of the characters didn't make sense. They felt forced, especially Slain. I ... wish they had stayed truer to how Season 1 felt...minus the last episode where things started to get questionable. Then how they followed up and explained the final episode of season 1 in the first couple of episodes of season 2 just set the stage for a season that in no way could follow up to S1.

I will say that had this been a standalone show, with no season 1, I may have rated it an 8. As it is however, it is a bit of a let down after experiencing Season 1 and I admit I was a bit disappointment at how they shifted some of the characters and story, which is what left this as a 7 instead.

Still a good and entertaining watch, but still had hoped for more after seeing S1, as it was truly great.

Ok, so I saw some pretty harsh reviews for this show so felt the need to add my two cents. I will be VERY clear however, my review is for SEASON 1 ONLY....

Having said that I want to touch on a few things...

Story:
The story was both outstanding and frustrating at the same time. For the most part I thought it was great, but I say frustrating because there were a few things I had to overlook.

One of those was the amount of time the Vers or Martians or whatever had been been broken away into their own ..well I'll call it ... species for lack of a better term. If you'd told me this had been like...oh say a couple of centuries or something...GREAT, makes sense. HOWEVER, unless I completely heard this wrong, it was more like 50 years or something....that to me is a MAJOR problem. The story makes mention of culture and they view each other as VERY different....yet 50 years is not even close to long enough for that mentality to develop and for true culture to be built up....hell it's not long enough for them to develop these astonishing floating ship/cities....so hopefully I misheard and that bad is on me...but I thought that's what it said, which is just dumb, so to help me get past all that I just pretended they said something like 250 years and after that I really enjoyed the story. :D

My second issue is what takes place near the end of the story, but I'm not even sure if you just count that as character flaws, story issues, or just the fact that this story continues...so my concerns over the final episode or two I will actually skip over and address those in my Season 2 review....and see if they redeem those questionable moments or not.

Having said that...the rest of the story to me was great. I loved the concept, it kept me very interested and I thought it was well laid out (aside from the two items i mentioned above). Again though....I was very thrilled to find this as so many anime are just shallow, so it was nice to have a story with some serious concepts and meat to it.

Art:
BEAUTIFUL anime....nothing more to say. I literally thought multiple times when watching it...man this is really beautiful.

Character:
Won't go into detail yet here, but I'll just say for what you know in Season 1 only, the characters are great. They could TOTALLY ruin that depending on what they do in the Season 2 though, as there is definitely some explaining to do. It could really redeem some moments from S1 or could make you say WTF were they thinking....but with it ending before revealing that, I can't honestly knock points off for that just yet....

Aside from that, I really enjoyed the characters... I like the main char and his sister's relationship. I loved how he was socially awkward. I thought his friends and the PTSD teacher were great.... The princess was ok, but I really liked Slaine and his interactions with the other Counts...made it very interesting and gripping to me. Overall I thought the chars were well done.

Enjoyment / Overall:
If you like Mecha, military, just really beautiful anime...and want something with a little more mature, meaty storyline I think you'll really enjoy this. I love this kind of story, one with real consequences, political plays, and I really like military stuff as well...so this was highly enjoyable to me. I didn't think the Mecha was overdone (as that's not really my thing but I thought it was balanced well). I highly suggest anyone looking for something along those lines to check this out, I think you'll find it worth your time. I will add however, this is not a start/end story.....it has another season (and season 2 may be a MAJOR let-down depending on how they handle some items), so I would also warn folks not to watch this if you want a wrapped up story at the end....but if you're ok going along for the ride and enjoying it for what it is...part 1 of a series....this is really a truly great anime.