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Taking place in the distant future; Wolf's Rain is what I would describe excellent to a point.
Excellent to the point being that did not really have a huge impact or I did quite not enjoy as I thought I would. Granted, there were parts where I would have a good smile on my face, but then there were times that the story would just drag.

I have had this anime for a very long time, but never found a motivation to actually watch it until I brought up Spice & Wolf to someone and they replied if I watched Wolf's Rain; so I decided to ... FINALLY watch this series.

Now to talk about the actual story a little bit, it centers around basically 5 main characters, Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe and Cheza. I found that these main characters held thier weight in this story and the first 4 are wolves from different backrounds and just by thier attire it shows. Cheza is known as the "Flower Maiden". Without going into too much spoiling, all I am going to say is they are trying to go to Paradise. (I am going to stop right there.) BTW, my favorite character by far in this series: Blue.

Next the Art. It was impressive; definitely got the feeling of a post-Modern civilization and people struggling to live their lives the best they can.

The soundtrack was top notch. Again, Yoko Kanno does it again with memorable music to help you feel what is going on around you.

Enjoyment was a big factor and it just took me right out of the story when they had to recap everything the way they did. It was definitely my biggest disappointment along with other events that I cannot say due to not spoiling.
Due to that reason I gave enjoyment a 7, because I basically fast forwarded through three episodes which were in my opinion a complete waste of time.

Overall, I give it an 8, It was very good, but not the best. It was remember-able, but not memorable.

I had conflicting thoughts writing this review...
The biggest reason why was because I ironically had an ex called Nana-Chan (Natsumi was her long name) and lets just say that our relationship did not really end up on the right tones.

I could sum up this anime by saying if you are a guy, and you are a duchebag, this lays it out to a tee.

This is like a crash course in duchebag101.

I cannot explain how much I have seen guys and girls do what they do in this anime. But I will admit between NANA and White Album (my previous review) White Album ... was more realistic to me in that reguards to real life situations.

I do not know if they was what they were going for in this anime, but I think I got more pissed off at situations than actually enjoying them. Towards the middle/end of this anime, I had to watch it in a very short duration, because it reminded me of past relationships so hard that I had to take a day away from watching this anime and reflect on my past actions and pull myself back together again to try to finish it to do the review.

By the end of the anime I just wanted it to be over like a bad dream.

Emotionally, it was a tough anime.

The story started out quite laggy in the beginning and I must say, it can be incredibly predictable because I would simply put myself in the shoes of the person and figure out what they would do, and then I would ask myself "Would I do that?" So to that end, I found it quite... again, predictable but still emotional.

The art reminded me of XXXHolic so damn hard that I thought I was watching a spinoff. The sound was "alright" but it was not top notch as I was expecting either. (I liked how they plugged Jackson Hole in many...many..episodes, makes me want to go there next time I am in Tokyo.)

Now for the characters (going to keep it short). It was REALLY REALLY hard to imagine Osaki, Nana played by Paku, Romi to play the part because I remember her playing Edward, Elric in Full Metal Alchemist. It was DAMN hard. But after about 20 episodes I finally got used to it and she did this role incredible. The other Nana; Komatsu, Nana was well done as well and thankfully I had not much problem adapting her to this role. The supporting characters in this anime literally CARRIED this anime all the way though.

In Enjoyment, I will say it was enjoyable, but incredibly depressing at times not to mention you would have "WTF" moments accompanied by a good ol' *facepalm*.

Overall, I would say it was good, it definitely was emotional as I said, because many of the personal situations in MY life were reflected in this anime. The feelings of loneliness, pain, anger, betrayal, lust, and sadness were rampant in NANA and I felt it along with them every step of the way.

I had to let my thoughts sit for a few days before I could write a review on this anime called "White Album". This is season 1 of what I would like to describe as a very strong and very realistic anime. I have not seen one like this since Maison Ikkoku. (Refer to that review to get more of my mind frame for this anime or if u need more of a reference.)

I will not go into detail of this anime but I will go into the mindset of why I think this anime is so damned good. The story takes ... place in 1986. Ironic enough, Maison Ikkoku also took place in the 80's. In additon, both protagonists are looking for part-time jobs and are both going to college. There are similarities but also big differences.

In "White Album", the protagonist, Fujii Touya already has a girlfriend and she wants to be an idol. He supports her and in the first episode it shows how MUCH he does love her and care for her and how much he wants to spend time with her. They have little texts while they talk (as if so you would know what they are thinking) which gave me a great reminder of Kare Kano (His and her circumstances) which was added in incredibly well.

The last thing I will mention is Ogata, Rina. She reminded me of Sheryl Nome from Macross Fronter and had the same strength and comfort as her and at the same time was as "interesting" as the 'galactic nymph'.

I gave this anime a 9 because the story kept me into it and once I got done with the first episode I wanted to know how they went along with their daily lives. I usually try to anticipate what is going to happen in most anime that I watch, and thankfully, I was unable to.

I give this anime an overall 9.

Maison Ikkoku. In my opinon a very memorable series and one of Rumiko Takahashi's greatest manga turned anime I have ever seen.

I still watch it. I feel the reminiscence of the train when it goes by... the buy-me-drink bars, buying beer in vending machines... I spent two years in Japan and I can say that it is amazing how things have not changed from the 80's.

This realistic (but incredibly harsh) anime gives a glimpse into the mindframe of a ronin named Yusaku Godai, a man who is trying to get into college and lives in a boarding house with other tennants. The main ... female protagonist, Kyoko Otonashi, a woman (turned widow overnight) who he instantly falls in love at first sight struggles to find ways in expressing his love for her. Over the duration of 96 episodes it sees ups and downs of love, competition, and lots and lots of booze. (Makes me want to open up a cold one)

Poor Godai is in my opinion the bad luck side in all of us and tries to overcome the challenges of every-day life while still holding onto the main thing that he holds dear and that is the love he has for Kyoko Otonashi.

I found this a VERY enjoyable anime and is ONE of the few anime I watched in english because the subs I had for it was just GOD AWFUL and it had many of the familiar English voice actors I am used to and I can actually stomach.

~My second review~

Hello, everyone! Today I am going to throw out the review on Macross Frontier!

This anime from the get-go brings much nostalgia from (Original) Macross, Macross Zero and Macross 7.

If you question the validity of this review you are welcome to do so. I have NOT watched the Macross (original series) but I have watched the movie. I HAVE watched all of the Robotech series and the Macross (Do you remember love Movie)
So on that context, let me start my review.

As I stated earlier, there are many points that I found from both the Macross movie and Macross 7. I personally enjoy all of ... Macross becuase it centers around culture and music.

The story from the beginning is powerful and runs along with the memories and traditions of what makes Macross great.

The art is definately first rate along with the much flashes and absoultely wonderful aircraft flight/fight scenes.

The sound. Oh my. Just like my previous review on Hikaru No Go, the music in this anime just drew me in instantly when I heard it. Again, this is another anime that just speaks volumes of "right music at the right time." The entire soundtrack absolutely flows. (Not to mention how traditonal it is having music from previous Macross series.) Of course w/ Yoko Kanno at the helm of the soundtrack, it is absolutely grand.

Character development is on one hand interesting and on the other hand inspiring. In these 25 episodes of Macross Frontier they definately try to fart out as much to get you feeling personally with each of these characters and want to hold onto their struggles. And in additon ask why things are going the way they are.

Enjoyment: It was a great series if you like seeing things blow up, and want to reminisce about Macross. It's quality is top notch and it is definitely an anime that I think is worth watching more than once.

Overall:
With great plot, story, character development and an overall wonderful feeling behind it, this anime is for you. If you dislike aircraft, a little bit of drama, and a anime that has a wonderful sense of purpose this anime is most likely not for you.

Thanks for reading this review, this was really hard to write w/out spoiling anything.

~This is my first review, so lets see if I can write this~

Hikaru No Go. What can be said about this anime.
When I first saw this anime I first thought aww man,
I don't know a damn thing about Go.

Then this anime got much deeper as things progressed.

And in all honesty, it was not fully the storyline that grabbed me.
I will only be focusing on two things:
... "Soundtrack" & "Progression"

I will first explain the soundtrack.
The good and the bad.
Now don't get me wrong, for 75 episodes the music can get a little bit dull after awhile (but that did not stop me from finding the soundtracks). But there are definite times when it comes in at the right time. It is absolutely riveting and the music makes it feel like it is more than just these kids just playing these games.

This anime has sorrow, pain, strength, and it is followed up beautifully with the musical scores.

Now for progression.
Without giving really anything away in this anime, "Hikaru No go" does what so many anime that have LONGER series/episodes fail to do with the number of episodes given. That is actually show progression of their characters. (They are not stuck in the same time bubble for 200 episodes or so) I literally sit on the edge of my seat when I see one of the pieces fall or when you see the shock on someones face when they are stuck on thier move (do I have any Idea what the hell is going on in the game? In all honesty, hell no.) But watching *most* of the characters develop and see them change throughout the series is definately a rewarding feeling because there is again, progression.

I honestly found no problems with the progression of this anime along with the story, art, sound, characters and find this series highly enjoyable and I am watching it again right now as I type up this review.

I would go more in depth for this anime, but until I can do in depth reviews (WITH spoilers), this is pretty much what I am limited to.

Hopefully soon, I will try to have another review out soon.

I give Hikaru No Go a overall 9/10 and recommend those who enjoy those aspects I mentioned in anime to watch and check it out. You might find it as rewarding of an anime I did.